Thane cops recover jewellery worth Rs7 lakh from chain snatcher

A month after the police arrested a 24-year-old chain snatcher, they have recovered jewellery worth Rs6.9 lakh and have solved 14 cases of chain snatching. The accused had been committing crime for the past two years.

Hujju Yaser Irani was arrested last month by Thane crime branch unit 1 from Bhiwandi after a tip-off. Irani was wanted in a chain-snatching case in which a woman succumbed to her injuries.

Irani was also wanted in a chain-snatching case where a senior citizen woman succumbed to her injuries after Irani snatched her gold chain from moving auto rickshaw at Vakola in Mumbai. Kanchan Kudalkar, 65, was travelling by auto onJanuary 16when Irani snatched her chain at Vakola signal in Santacruz .

Shital Raut, senior police inspector from Thane crime branch unit 3, said, “Last month, Irani was handed over to the Bhiwandi city police station by crime branch unit 1. After investigation, we recovered jewellery worth Rs6.9 lakh. A total of 14 cases of chain snatching were detected. We suspected that the Irani was involved in many such cases .”

His family members have also been previously been arrested in chain-snatching and theft cases. Irani’s father is lodged in Coimbatore jail for over the past one year, his brother is in Thane jail for a few months and his mother was released from Kalyan jail on bail last year..

Irani began snatching chains and committing crimes in Thane, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai since he was 17 years old, said the police.

A police officer from Thane commissionerate said, “All his family members are history-sheeters.”