Cops arrest duo for several chain snatching, bike thefts in Mangaluru

The Surathkal police have arrested 2 people and solved eight chain snatching and four bike theft cases. The police have recovered 240 grams of gold ornaments worth Rs 12,48,550 and four two-wheelers worth Rs 1.34 lakh from the arrested, said Commissioner of Police Kuldeep Kumar R Jain.

The arrested are Habib Hassan who resides in a rented house at Kalladka in Bantwal and Mohammed Faizal from Ullal.

After two chain snatching cases were reported in Moodbidri and Surathkal, a team was constituted under the guidance of ACP (Mangaluru North) Manoj Kumar Naik and Surathkal Inspector Mahesh Prasad to trace the culprits.

The duo were arrested when they were travelling to Surathkal to sell the ornaments that they stole in Bantwal and Tadambail. They had attempted to sell it in Mangaluru but weren't successful.

Acting on a tip off that the duo were travelling to Surathkal, the police started checking vehicles at Madhya Madavanagara Kodippady. When asked to stop the scooter which they were riding, they stopped the vehicle at a distance and began to run from the spot. The police caught them and during the interrogation, they spilled the beans of various chain snatching incidents in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi along with bike theft cases.

The duo were using the stolen two-wheelers for the chain snatching and were targeting senior citizens, said the Commissioner.

There are 35 cases against Habib Hassan in various police stations in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts while there are 15 cases against Faizal in various stations in Dakshina Kannada district. In fact, Faizal was convicted in a bike theft case reported in Mangaluru South police station limits. The arrested were produced before the First Additional CJM court judge who in turn remanded them in 14 days of judicial custody.