A 'pocketful' of woes

Organised crime

Next time you board a BMTC bus, take extra care of your wallets and mobile phones. If you feel that they are secure inside your bag or pocket, you may be wrong.

That’s because organised gangs of pickpockets have been operating in these buses and incidents of thefts are occurring quite often these days.

The modus operandi of these robbers is so perfect that the victims don’t come to know how and when their valuables were lifted.


Using various distraction techniques, these thieves finish their operations and get away with the valuables. Most of the time, they operate in groups and quickly pass on the stolen items to one of the members, who abandons the bus as the others continue ‘pocket hunting’.

“Recently, in bus number 34, a young woman got in with a small baby. The moment I saw her, I got suspicious and kept an eye on her. Though some offered her a seat, she chose to stand behind an old woman. When that old woman was about to get down, this woman put her shawl, with which she had covered her baby, around the bag of that old woman. At that moment, I shouted and warned that old woman to check her bag. As I had suspected, her wallet was stolen. As the search began, that same young woman found the purse lying near her feet. I realised that she had dropped it soon as I had shouted. Later, the old woman got down and this woman followed her. When the bus started moving, I saw that innocent woman thanking that pickpocket for locating her purse,” reveals Yashodha, a bank employee who commutes in the BMTC buses daily. Yashodha says that these days she comes across at least one pickpocketing case a week.

Overcrowded buses in rush hour traffic are the perennial favourites of pickpockets. To allay suspicion, they copy the dress and mannerisms of business professionals and conceal their hands with newspapers, garment bags, long sleeved coats etc. Most women snatchers use babies for the same.

“In most cases, the victims themselves reveal the location of the valuables to the thieves and become an easy prey. These days, pickpocketing in buses has become so rampant. As most of the shopping areas and railway stations are now equipped with surveillance cameras, buses have become easy targets. This is true especially for buses which operate along the IT Corridor and those taking the long routes like 201, 401 and 501 series, C3, G8 etc. These are always crowded and more prone to pickpocketing,” says Raveesh, an engineer.

Conductors say that though they recognise some snatchers, who regularly board their buses, they are helpless. “Though we understand their motive behind boarding a bus, we cannot stop them. They are sincere in buying tickets and even possess bus passes. I warn passengers about a possible theft whenever I find suspicious people in my bus.

Ironically, by the time a commuter comes to know about the theft, the pickpockets would have left the bus. Some victims insist on taking the bus to the police station but we cannot oblige as it causes inconvenience to other commuters,” says Govindraju, a conductor.

“The Kempegowda Bus Station and other busy terminals have a lot of pickpockets and commuters have been suffering at their hands. Since they are operating right under the officials’ nose, no one believes that the BMTC or the police is unaware of it. Putting signboards at bus stations warning people against pickpockets is not enough.

The BMTC should take stringent measures to ensure the safe journey of its passengers. It should form squads to tend to these issues and the police also should do something to curb the pickpockets operating in the BMTC buses,” insists Raghav, an entrepreneur.