Amit Sharma
Chandigarh, December 18
The city has witnessed 137 cases of snatching so far this year, the highest in the past four years. Mobile phones have turned out to be the hot pick among snatchers, accounting for 68% of the snatched items.
As per police record, snatchers have so far targeted 137 persons, against 121 in 2021, 79 in 2020 and 122 in 2019, respectively.
While the police claim to have been setting up checkpoints at various locations in the city to deter the criminals and block escape routes, the rising number of incidents has left cops baffled.
Among the total cases reported this year, the police have managed to crack only 94. Mobile phones remain the most common target of the suspects. So far, total 93 mobile phones, 36 purses and only eight gold chains have been snatched this year.
“Snatching a mobile phone may be less rewarding, but it is also relatively less risky for snatchers, while executing the crime. Parts of the phone can easily be sold in the grey market,” says a police official.
Rising incidents of snatchings in the city over the past few years have instilled a sense of fear among residents, especially women who avoid wearing gold ornaments while going out for a walk or to a nearby market. This is perhaps one of the reasons for a steep decline in the number of cases of snatching of gold ornaments in the recent past. The police claim the southern and south-western parts of the city, adjoining Mohali, are more prone to snatchings due to the porous border.
“The snatchers make an easy escape after committing a crime in Chandigarh. They slip into neighbouring areas or villages falling in Mohali district,” says an official.
The police claim pedestrians have turned out to be a soft target for snatchers.
The newly installed CCTV cameras on various roads and junctions under the Smart City project have proved helpful for the police in solving cases.
“A majority of the suspects arrested for snatching has confessed they committed crime to fulfil their needs for drugs,” says a police source.
Southern sectors more prone
Southern and south-western parts of UT, adjoining Mohali, are more prone to snatchings due to porous borderPedestrians have turned out to be the most common target of snatchers, say police officialsMost suspects have confessed to having committed the crime to get a fix of drugs, say sources
