Helpless cops want you to click chain grabbers

Police declare Rs 10,000 reward for citizens who take photos of snatchers in the act or catch them red-handed, but remove announcement from site soon after facing ridicule

Helpless cops want you to click chain grabbers

Police declare Rs 10,000 reward for citizens who take photos of snatchers in the act or catch them red-handed, but remove announcement from site soon after facing ridicule

Failure to catch chain-snatchers and the resulting feeling of helplessness seems to have made the police come up with bizarre ideas to check the rising menace. After asking people to refrain from exhibiting gold ornaments on roads, the police are now appealing to citizens to take photographs of criminals while they are snatching valuables. A reward of Rs 10,000 has been announced for those who catch such crimes on camera. The city witnesses a couple of chain-snatching incidents everyday on an average. In only five months this year, the chain-snatching statistics have already crossed the 100 mark.

Illustration/Jishu Dev Malakar

The drama
In a press release that was issued and uploaded officially on the website www.punepolice.gov.in yesterday afternoon, the police appealed to citizens to either catch the suspects red-handed or take their photographs on mobile cameras. When mediapersons quizzed the public relations officer (PRO) about this appeal and asked the police to demonstrate how what was suggested was to be done, the press release was removed from the website in a hurry. Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Anant Shinde ordered his sub-ordinates to remove the release from the official website. Later, in the evening, several calls were made to reporters to not publish the appeal. Still, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime I) Prabhakar Patil stood by the appeal that was made in the police release.

Help us! The release that was put on the official website yesterday

Speaking over the telephone from Kolhapur, he said: "This appeal has been made to motivate people and make them alert to curb the rising chain-snatching incidents. Nowadays everyone has a mobile with an in-built camera and they can easily take a photograph of the suspect if they are being robbed. This would also help the police to later on establish the identity of the suspect."

The debate
The controversial release announcing a reward for photos of chain-snatchers gave rise to a debate among several senior police officers. While some said that theoretically it was a good idea, others rubbished it as completely impractical.

Reacting to the release fiasco, a Crime Branch officer, who requested anonymity, said the announcement reflected badly on the force. "It's an indication of how helpless the department has become. The idea is good only on paper and totally impractical for citizens. often the victims fall down or are left shocked after their valuables are snatched," the officer said. "If people can't even balance themselves, how can they take out their mobiles and click photographs of suspects?"

Big police failure
The police had set up a special squad in April to arrest chain-snatching incidents in the city. But barring a few recent arrests, the special squad, the Crime Branch and personnel from local police stations have failed miserably to identify and catch snatchers. Several days of nakabandi on main roads also failed to deliver results.