Maharashtra chain snatchers, who terrified women, arrested

While arresting two persons involved in 22 chain-snatching cases in and around the city, the east division police on Saturday recovered 1.8 kilograms of gold, worth Rs 31.92 lakh.

A senior police officer said Farman Ali (25) and Bakhar Ali (30) are part of the infamous chain-snatching gang from Maharashtra. For the past one year, they had been foraying into the city to snatch away valuables from women and elderly people. The gang had been largely operational in Hennur, Indiranagar, Ramamurthy Nagar, Vidyaranyapura, Bagalagunte, Kothanur, Banaswadi and DJ Halli areas.

Farman and Bakhar were caught using clues obtained from a woman, who was a victim to their chain snatching on December 19.

They also confessed to being involved in house-breaking in and around the city. Arriving by bus or train, they would haul off two-wheelers parked on the roadside and use the vehicle to snatch chains. They would then abandon the vehicle near the bus or train stations before slipping away.