Chain snatcher attacks 80-year-old woman inside her home, grabs her mangalsutra

Chain-snatching incidents are no longer limited to the roads. Days after Police Commissioner Satish Mathur and Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Kumar decided to dissolve the anti-chain snatching squad of Pune Crime Branch (‘Commissioner dissolves anti-chain snatching squad', mid-day, April 10) due to their failure to curb such crimes, chain-snatchers are now daring to enter the homes of their targets.

One such victim was 80-year-old Vijaya Vasant Shirwalkar who was targeted by two unidentified thieves on Sunday evening.

One of the accused entered her flat in Omkar society of Shivam Complex in Someshwarwadi, Pashan, on Sunday around 5 pm. The accused snatched her gold chain and mangalsutra and hurried to the parking lot where his accomplice was waiting on a bike after which they both fled.

Vijaya's son, Hemant (47), a businessman residing in Satyam building of the same complex, has filed a complaint with the Chatuhshrungi police station.

Copspeak
Assistant Police Inspector and investigating officer V R Goud said, "Vijaya Shirwalkar was watching television on Sunday evening and the door of her flat was not locked. Seeing this as a window of opportunity, one of the accused entered the flat, snatched the gold ornaments and ran towards the parking area of the building. Soon after the incident, Vijaya raised an alarm and her neighbour Ajay Jagtap then called up her son who resides in a different building in the same complex."

"Primary investigations have revealed that the thieves had arrived on a black-coloured bike. The society is old and does not have any closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in its premises. There was no security guard deployed by the society. We have asked the society members to install CCTV cameras as soon as possible," said Goud.

Chain snatching cases
Year Reported Detected
2012 479 195
2013 566 203
2014 223 20