Delhi Police has arrested a 35 year-old chef of a five-star hotel for multiple cases of snatching in South Delhi. Police said that the accused had a good salary but he took to snatching to pay off his gambling debts.
The accused has been identified as Harish, a resident of Sangam Vihar area, Police said that Harish, who holds degrees in BA and hotel management, worked at a five-star hotel near the IGI Airport.
According to Atul Kumar Thakur, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Spouth district, after receiving a tip off, Harish was arrested from Neb Sarai area on Tuesday evening where he had gone for more snatchings.
“Harish especially targeted women going for a walk or travelling to offices near Saket Metro Station. Other times, he would lurk in the park adjoining the metro station or at Ambedkar Nagar bus stand on Mehrauli-Badarpur (MB) Road,” said the DCP.
“Finding himself trapped, the accused took out his country-made pistol but the police personnel overpowered him and snatched the firearm from his hand,” he said.
“After his arrest, Harish disclosed that he had sold three snatched gold chains to a goldsmith in Sangam Vihar area. On the basis of his testimony, police arrested Rajender Aggarwal for buying the stolen property,” the DCP added.
“During interrogation, Harish disclosed that around two years ago, he started gambling through an online app ‘Satta King’. Initially, he succeeded, but later suffered losses and incurred huge debts. He then chose to make money by snatching gold chains and mobile phones, preying on soft targets in the morning and evening hours,” said the DCP.
“After snatching valuables from his victims, he would usually shout “Pakdo-Pakdo” or “Chor-Chor” to give an impression that he was chasing the culprit and would run like a trained athlete. For more than a month, his team scrutinised hundreds of CCTV footage and analysed the timings and specific area of incidents to nab the suspect,” said the DCP.
A country-made pistol with live cartridge, four snatched mobile phones, and four gold chains were recovered from his possession, the police officer said.