Bengaluru: A serial chain snatcher who targeted women passengers aboard slow-moving trains at Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal (SMVT) has landed in custody. The broken half of a chain that he’d snatched from a passenger helped police track and arrest him.Through a joint operation which included Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Crime Investigation Bureau (CIB), Byappanahalli Railway Police recovered 91 grams of stolen gold jewellery from him.Over the past few weeks, a pattern began to emerge at SMVT station. As long-distance trains slowly pulled away from platforms, an unidentified man would target women passengers sitting near windows or waiting near doors, snatch gold chains from their necks, get off the moving train onto the tracks before fleeing.Following a string of complaints, a special team was formed under Sarah Fathima, superintendent of police, Railways, Bengaluru. Comprising officers and staff from Byappanahalli Railway Police station, the team started surveillance and intelligence gathering around the station premises.On Aug 11, the team detained 26-year-old Abhishek Avinash, a daily-wage labourer originally from Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu, and currently residing in Satya Nagar.During interrogation, Avinash confessed to involvement in three snatching incidents in which FIRs were already registered under BNS Section 309(4). Avinash said while snatching a chain from a passenger, the ornament snapped. While the woman retained one half, he escaped with the broken portion and hid it at his residence. That broken chain helped the team trace him.“He admitted to snatching a 29-gram gold mangalya chain in one instance and 50 grams of chains in another, both of which he subsequently sold to local jewellery shops,” a GRP inspector said.Elderly man robbed of gold chainA 64-year-old man returning home after attending his friend’s last rites was robbed of his gold chain near busy Shantala Circle in Majestic. Prakash, 64, a resident of Cottonpet who works as a salesman at a bicycle trading company near Chickpet Metro station, had gone to Nelagadaranahalli, north Bengaluru, on Aug 13 to pay last respects to his friend Manjunatha, who passed away the previous evening.After attending the last rites, Prakash returned to Majestic and was walking towards his house at 5.30pm when a miscreant snatched the gold chain from his neck. Prakash chased the man, but he managed to disappear in the crowd. The chain, weighing around 10 grams, is worth Rs 90,000.
