PM Modi's niece becomes victim of snatchers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's niece has now become the latest victim of snatchers in Delhi on Saturday morning when two unidentified motorcycle-borne men snatched her purse while getting out of an autorickshaw.

Damayanti Ben Modi, daughter of the Prime Minister's brother, had stepped out of an autorickshaw in front of Gujarati Samaj Bhavan in north Delhi's Civil Lines area in the morning when the snatchers struck.

She along with her family had returned from Amritsar in the morning and came to the Bhavan where they had a room booked. As soon as she got out of the auto, the motorcyclists snatched her purse, which contained Rs 56,000 in cash, two mobile phones and some documents.

She had a flight for Ahmedabad to catch in the evening but had lost travel tickets and other documents, which included identity cards and bank cards. Delhi Police has initiated an investigation to arrest the snatchers.

The location of the incident was near Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's official residence.

Of late, there has been a surge in snatching cases in the national capital and the Delhi Police are facing flak for not being able to put a stop to the crimes. Without referrring to the incident, Kejriwal's media adviser Nagender Sharma tweeted, "Law & order of Delhi is solely in the domain of India's central government. Delhi Police directly reports to @HMOIndia (Ministry of Home)."

Last month, a woman journalist was dragged out of an autorickshaw and her phone snatched in South Delhi.

Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights member Jyothi Rathee was targeted last week by two bike-borne snatchers in Rohini.

Recently, Delhi Police had claimed that incidents of looting and snatching had witnessed a 29% drop. Police officials said that a new initiative 'Yuva' was launched by the Delhi Police under the direction of the lieutenant governor to keep youth away from snatching or "other small crimes".

The initiative provides for literacy and technical education to make youth employable to ensure that they keep away from the world of crime.

In 2004, the grand nephew of then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was thrown out from a running train for protesting eve-teasing, resulting in his death.