Under-fire cop nabs chain snatcher based on elderly victim's statement

Police arrested a 30-year-old man, who was a habitual chain snatcher, late on Sunday night. The same accused had snatched the chain of a senior citizen and the cops had refused to file an FIR last month.

MiD DAY had reported a story of a chain snatching incident last month, where the cops refused to file an FIR. Habitual offender (left) Mohammad Momin, the unnamed accused in the case, was arrested on Sunday night

MiDDAY had published an article on April 5, ‘Dear Mr CP, look how your cops treat elderly victims'. After reading the report, the police personally visited Sushila Agarwal (64) and her husband Ramesh (66) and an FIR was registered the next day. The accused Mohammad Hasan Mushtak Momin (30) is a resident of Mira Road. He was arrested and produced in the Borivli court yesterday where he was remanded in police custody.

An inquiry was initiated in the matter of refusing to file an FIR last month against a police officer who was on duty. The same cop, PSI Sandesh Palande of MHB police station, succeeded in nabbing the accused. Palande's promotion and increment was stopped due to the inquiry. Palande who was on night duty on Sunday, got a tip-off about a chain snatcher loitering near Yogi Nagar in Borivli (west).

Palande along with a constable took his bike and rushed to the spot. Sushila had noted down the biker's number in her case and Palande saw it was the same bike. He started chasing Momin who was on a Pulsar. After about 1 kilometre on Linking Road, Palande managed to intercept Momin's bike. Momin escaped into a nearby building, and the cops nabbed him on the terrace.

Palande said, "The accused runs a furniture shop in Mira Road. He is a habitual criminal and has several cases registered against him. He was also arrested in 2008 in a mobile theft case. The bike, which he was riding, is also stolen and we have seized it."

The husband of the victim in the April case Ramesh Agarwal said, "It is good that the accused has been arrested. The cops called us to identify him." Talking about the April 5 story, Palande, in his defence, said, "When the couple came to police station I was handling four cases together. Other officers should have lodged an FIR. I never personally said no to file the FIR."

Jeweller turns chain snatcher, caught red-handed
Cops arrested a jeweller who decided to snatch chains after suffering huge losses in his business. The accused Bharat Jain (37), a Khar resident, was caught by the public red-handed while he tried to snatch what turned out to be a Rs 300 imitation piece. Nirmala Joshi (58), a housewife and resident of Irla, was taking a walk on Lalubhai Park Road, near Surya hospital when Jain approached her from behind and removed her chain. The public caught him soon after Joshi screamed for help.u00a0

According API Gulzarilal Phadtare of Juhu police station, Jain decided to try his hand at chain snatching as he suffered huge losses in his business. Besides, he was inspired by the incidents that he read about in the papers everyday. Senior Inspector of Juhu police station Arun Bhagat said, "The accused has no past record, and is a first time offender. He was produced in the court and remanded in police custody."u00a0