Chain snatching: Police shoot at career criminal, accomplice

A career criminal, who snatched a gold chain from a woman, suffered bullet injuries in his legs when a police inspector fired at him with his service revolver Monday night.

His accomplice was caught and beaten up by the public. The incident took place in HRBR Layout, Kalyan Nagar.

Manjula, 42, a homemaker, was feeding her three-year-old son, who was sitting on the compound wall of their house. As she was about to enter the house, two men who came on a scooter tried to snatch her gold chains. As she held on to the chains, they could snatch only one chain. When she screamed for help, the public rushed in.

A motorcycle rider chased the scooter-borne chain-snatchers and rammed his bike into their vehicle. As they fell, one of them hid himself among the bushes. When the other returned to take the scooter, the public caught hold of him, trashed him and handed him over to the police. He was identified as Mahesh, 20, a resident of Kariyanapalya, Lingarajapuram.

A police team led by Banasawadi inspector T Rangappa, which was equipped with search lights, kept searching for the other youth in the bushes.  As they confronted him after almost 30 minutes, he took out a knife and came charging towards the policemen. “He attacked our constable Ankit in the eye. He threatened to kill us, if we did not let him off.

When I rushed towards him, I suffered a minor injury on my arm. Even though we repeatedly told him to surrender, he did not heed and tried to attack us. Therefore, in self defence, I fired two rounds at him. He suffered two bullet wounds in his left leg and later we arrested him,” Inspector Rangappa said.

He was later identified as Suresh, 21, a resident of Armstrong Street, Bharathinagar. Suresh was rushed to Dr B R Ambedkar Medical College, where he is now being treated for his injuries. Rangappa, who sustained a minor injury on his arm, was treated as an out patient, while police constable Ankit, with a swollen eye, has been hospitalised.

The police have recovered the gold chain weighing 10 grams from Suresh. Police sources said that Suresh and Mahesh have a criminal history. Suresh has six chain snatching cases against him in Bharathinagar. He was arrested earlier and was recently out on bail, they said.