A 52-year-old resident of Irani basti near Ambivali station in Thane was arrested by the property cell of the Mumbai crime branch on Saturday. According to the police, many  residents of the locality have been booked for chain-snatching, among other things, and the locals, especially women, tend to shield them from arrest.

The accused, identified as Kabuli Naushad Ali Jafri, has 45 registered cases of chain snatching and cheating while posing as a police official against him in Mumbai, Ahmedabad  and elsewhere in Maharashtra.