CHAIN REACTIONIJ An increasing pain in the neck for Delhi women
A group of chain snatchers from Western Uttar Pradesh’s Jhinjhana region (around 125 km from Capital) is giving Delhi Police sleepless nights by targeting women morning walkers. In the past few months, Delhi Police has arrested 22 such men from the same region and recovered 71 gold chains from them.
The town of Jhinjhana falls under Shamli district in Uttar Pradesh and is the third such region reportedly driving criminals to the national Capital, a police official told The Pioneer. The other two badlands are Haryana’s Mewat and Bihar’s Munger.
According to police, the long-suffering areas of this gang are South Delhi’s Mehrauli, Saket, Malviya Nagar, Fatehpur Beri, lajpat Nagar and Defence Colony. Their activities came to fore following the arrest of 22 men, all aged between 18 and 35 years, from various parts of the Capital in the past three months. In December last year, a team of special staff arrested three men from South Delhi and recovered 30 gold chains from them.
They often target women on morning walk or those waiting for the school bus with their children. Once the recce is done, one of the accomplices walks towards the target while his sidekick sidles up on a bike. As soon as he rips the chain off their necks, he gets into the waiting bike to escape.
“When in the Capital, they usually prefer to live in East Delhi’s Sonia Vihar and North Delhi’s Burari, on rented accommodation. Most of them have motorbikes. After multiple snatchings in a fortnight, they return to their native place (Jhinjhana) with the haul,” said a police officer.
On any given a day, four snatchings are par for the course, added the officer. “In Jhinjhana, a jeweller-dealer of stolen goods buys the stolen chains and further sells them to another goldsmith,” said the officer, adding, “Shamli district police have been intimated.”
Another official said police has laid traps several times to nab the accused receiver (jeweller) but he invariably slips through the cracks. Haryana’s Mewat region is infamous for its cattle rustlers, who come to Delhi in small vehicles or mini trucks and attack with stones and sticks whoever resists them. Many Delhi cops have lost their lives hunting them down.
Bihar’s Munger district too is notorious for manufacturing illegal firearms and smuggling them to various parts of the country, including the national Capital. “We inform the State police to home in on such criminals in their region. We also take other steps from time to time to prevent them from crossing over,” said a police officer, who did not wish to be named.
Besides Delhi, gangs from Jhinjhana region are also found to be operating on Delhi-Meerut, Bahadurgarh and Rohtak railway routes as well, added a police officer.