Interstate robber arrested by Chennai police

CHENNAI: A man from Maharashtra who has made it a habit to travel to South Indian states and go around snatching gold chains from women in stolen two-wheelers was arrested by the City Police when he tried his luck again in the city on Sunday.

Amol Balasakib Shinde (33) from Parbani in Maharashtra had been gracing the police records in Chennai and in neighbouring states for chain snatching incidents for a few years now, according to the police.

"He usually operates alone. He reaches his target city by train, then steals a two-wheeler and goes around targeting women in deserted stretches and snatches their chain. He then pawns the jewellery and with the money, he travels back by flight, " said a police officer.

Last month, a 61-year-old woman, V Padmavathi of Ganesh Nagar, Adambakkam, became a victim of chain snatching, after which the Adambakkam Police registered a case and began investigations. On perusing the CCTV footage of the incident, the police got the identity of the perpetrator and that of the two-wheeler, which they found to be stolen.

A team led by Adambakkam Inspector (crime) PC Shivakumar and sub-inspector Madhavan found that their suspect was a serial offender who already has cases against him in Anna Nagar, Thirumangalam, Kotturpuram and Saidapet Police stations, where he was arrested.

"In those incidents too, he had used the same modus operandi," the officer added. 

Adambakkam Police Team, who were tracking his whereabouts, learnt that he returned to the City and on Sunday, he was arrested. The police recovered seven sovereigns of gold chain from him.

According to the City Police, he had strikes in the city for three years since 2019 and then turned his focus to other cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and cities in Kerala too, where cases have been registered against him.

Amol was produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody. Apart from the arrest of the interstate robber, Amol, City Police also arrested three other persons - S Surya (26), V Sathya (24) and S Ramkumar (28), who were involved in chain snatching incidents in Kotturpuram and Kilpauk police limits.