Mail News Service
Jamshedpur, June 30 : The police have busted a gang of phone snatchers which used to target people moving in lonely places in Baradwari, Sakchi, Sidhgora, Baridih, Sitaramdera and Golmuri areas of the city.
Those arrested were identified as Sagarchandra Prasad, Vishwajeet Ghosh, Vivek Agrawal, Rajesh Kumar and a minor boy. The police have recovered 11 smartphones from the possession of those who had bought the sets from the mobile snatchers.
Senior superintendent of police, Anoop Birtharay said that two bike-borne criminals had snatched a smartphone from a 30-year-old man, Karan Kumar Thakur at an isolated place in Agrico locality on Saturday evening.
” As per our information, Thakur who is a resident of Sidhgora was walking on the road while talking over his smartphone, suddenly he found his mobile phone gone. One of the two bike-borne criminals who was sitting pillion had snatched the smartphone and had sped away. Incidentally, Thakur had jotted down the bike number. The police reached to the mobile phone snatchers on the basis of the bike’s registration number following an intensified search and finally detected the snatchers at Baridih late in the night,” said Birtharay.
The senior SP said as the victim had described that the bike was being rode by a minor boy with a youth, the police team which searched for the duo in every lane and locality, and finally the team spotted near a betel shop.
According to the police, later on being interrogated, the accused confessed that they would run the racket of smartphone snatching the past two months and would target the lone walkers, especially the women and elderly man.
“Burglaries have increased during the winter as many families are away on vacation. Specially constituted patrolling squads have already been deployed under the limits of the Mango and Sakchi,” said police official
It has often been observed that burglars keep a watch to fix their ‘target’ in a housing colony or society before committing crimes. People whose movements were found to be suspicious should be placed under watch.
Local residents have also expressed concerns over the prevailing situation. �Despite claims from the district police the cases of the thefts are on the rise. Steps have been taken by the police administration needs to curb menace by taking measures like night patrolling and installation of barricades where police officials keep strict vigilance. Though the police claim to have pulled their socks up and increased their beat patrolling, the citizens are not ready to accept the claims,� noted a resident.
