The crime scene post the pandemic has changed, and gone are the days of only seasoned criminals being involved in tricky crimes such as bike-lifting, chain-snatchings, and burglaries.
The latest happenings show that a large of number of youth in Chittoor district are turning to crimes to satiate their needs and vices, taking advantage of the porous borders with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Deputy Superintendent of Police N. Sudhakar Reddy told The Hindu that in the last six months, more than 200 two-wheelers, mostly of high-end brands, were seized, and as many as 35 youths, in the age group of 19-25, were nabbed.
‘Alarming trend’
“The trend is alarming and was not seen in the previous years. Our investigation showed that a majority of the arrested youth were addicted to liquor, ganja, and other vices. The youth find bike-lifting, mobile thefts, and chain-snatching easy to make a fast buck,” the police officer said.
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy said that the youth, who commit such crimes in Chittoor district, belonged to the bordering districts of Tiruvallur and Vellore districts of Tamil Nadu, and the Kolar district of Karnataka.
“Their modus operandi is to steal bikes and commit other crimes and sneak into their respective States, and sell the goods at throwaway prices,” he said.
‘Well-educated’
It is observed that some of the youth were graduates and MBA students.
Some police personnel probing these cases maintain that the youth would first conduct recce of the terrain and then commit the crime. Thanks to the presence of the CC cameras at the vital junctions, many youth have come under the police scanner.
“In cases of the crimes committed in rural areas, mostly chain-snatchings, catching the culprits becomes difficult,” a police official said.
In Annamayya district, the police have released posters to caution the owners of motorbikes to use “wheel locks” and GPS to prevent thefts.
Circle-Inspector (Madanapalle II Town) S. Murali Krishna said this would help reduce the incidence of vehicle thefts. The inspector said that in recent weeks, as many as 26 bikes were seized in Madanapalle town limits, and all the accused were youth. The involvement of minors was also detected in the cases of bike thefts in the region, the police officer said.
