The Coimbatore City Police on Thursday arrested a member of a Maharashtra-based gang that was involved in serial chain snatchings in Coimbatore, Dharmapuri and other States.
The police said members of the gang followed a unique modus operandi of travelling to different places on trains and using stolen motorcycles to snatch chains of random women.
Hussain Ali Sheik, a native of Guntakal in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, was arrested from a place near Saravanampatti in Coimbatore on Thursday. The police claimed that he met with an accident while attempting to escape on a stolen two-wheeler. He was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital with a broken right leg and right hand.
Deputy Commissioner of Police G. Chandeesh, Coimbatore north, said Sheik worked with Malang Yasar Jafri of Bhiwandi in Maharashtra, Pradhamesh of Thane, and Sameer alias Chikku of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, all aged below 24.
The police launched a hunt for the four men after they snatched chains of three women in the city between 5.30 a.m. and 8 a.m. on August 25. The men, who came on two stolen motorcycles, snatched a three sovereign chain of a 73-year-old woman in front of Thandumariamman temple on Avinashi Road first and three-and-a-half sovereign chains of two other women later.
“While two men observed the premises, the two others committed the offence. They covered their faces with masks and wore helmets. Though the vehicles used by them were identified, they were stolen ones,” Mr. Chandeesh said.
Four special teams examined visuals from over 200 surveillance cameras and found out that they had come from Coimbatore railway station and returned to the same place. Their faces were identified from visuals of their arrival and departure at the station.
“We sent photos of the four men to the police department in other States including Maharashtra, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. A policeman from Maharashtra identified the leader of the gang Jafri who faces charges in 25 cases in that State,” the DCP said.
Though police teams went to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to trace the accused, they kept on changing their location.
“After committing the three snatchings in Coimbatore, they left for Mumbai. They came to Dharmapuri and snatched chains of two women on August 30. In Coimbatore, they stole three two-wheelers for snatchings,” the officer added.
According to the police, Jafri headed the gang by operating it from Bhiwandi and handled the snatched chains while others were paid for their role in the crimes. The police are in the efforts to freeze the bank account of Sheik and trace the three others.
