Mumbai Crime: 19-year-old woman jumps off bus to catch chain snatcher

Illustration/Ravi Jadhav

A 19-year-old woman jumped off a moving BEST bus, and with the help of a patrolling policeman, nabbed a thief who tried to flee in an autorickshaw after snatching her gold chain worth Rs 40,000 on Thursday.

As per a report in Mumbai Mirror, the woman, Sanjana Bagul, acted promptly on realising that someone had flicked her chain in the crowded BEST double-decker bus and noticed the accused, Mukesh Gaikwad (34), jumping from the moving bus as it was taking a turn at Chakala on Andheri-Kurla Road around 10 am.

Police said the chain was recovered from Gaikwad. Bagul, who works as a telecaller at a private company, was on her way to work when the incident occurred. She usually takes BEST bus on route 332 from Andheri (east) to travel to Kurla (west).

"The bus was moving slowly as it crossed the signal and I dared to jump on noticing the thief running away with my chain that was purchased with my hard-earned money," Bagul said.

Around 9.45 am on Friday, the bus was overcrowded. Gaikwad followed Bagul in the crowded bus and flicked her chain. She realised something was wrong and when she checked, the chain was missing. She turned around and spotted a man (Gaikwad) trying to jump off the moving bus. "She followed him and screamed aloud to alert passersby. A traffic police constable who was on duty at Chakala signal chased and caught Gaikwad from the rickshaw that he had just taken but had got caught up in traffic," said an officer from Andheri police station. Gaikwad is unemployed and police is investigating further.

He has been remanded in custody.

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