Chain-snatcher who stole 15 chains in 2 months on Mumbai locals held  

The Government Railway Police (GRP) on Sunday arrested a 30-year-old man for snatching 15 chains from commuters on the local train in the past two months.

After the accused, Ibrahim Mohammed Hanif‘s arrest, the police have been able to recover six gold chains worth Rs2.30 lakh. Hanif was arrested from a village in Kalamb taluka of Osmanabad district on Sunday.

After grappling with a series of chain snatching cases on the city’s suburban railway network for the past two months, the GRP was finally able to zero in on the accused in a CCTV footage of the Kurla railway station, a month ago. The accused was spotted climbing into the ladies compartment, and later jumping off the train.

The technical team worked to enhance the image and GRP officials learnt the name of the accused was Hanif. Initially untraceable in Mumbai, a team of officials from the GRP crime branch, acting on a tip-off, nabbed him on Sunday.

“Following his arrest, Hanif confessed to have snatched 15 chains,” said Santosh Dhanvate, senior police inspector of GRP crime branch. Hanif has been operating in Mumbai even before CCTVs in the city stations were installed. Hence, he knew the exact placement of CCTVs and the range it would cover, which helped him evade appearing in the footages, said Dhanvate. “He said has been snatching chains since the last four years,” said Dhanvate.

Hanif operated alone. He was arrested in the past but victims were unable to identify him because he was quick to disappear after snatching a chain, said Dhanvate.

Crime branch officers said his modus operandi was similar to the mobile thief they had arrested a few days ago who snatched a teenager’s mobile phone on a local. Hanif used to change his hairstyle every 10 days to conceal his identity and used to roam on platforms, keeping a tab on every train. He then calculated the halt time of the train, fixed a target in the ladies compartment, and as the train would begin to move, he used to jump inside the compartment, snatch the woman’s chain, and jump out onto the tracks through the opposite door. “Before the women could realise or raise an alarm, Hanif would be far out of their sight,” said Dhanvate.

The crime branch officers said Hanif was presented before the court on Monday where he was remanded to police custody till Tuesday.