Bandeni Devi was robbed of two bangles when she was coming by auto from Phase-1 to Sector 38 on Wednesday. An FIR under sections 379 (theft), 356 (criminal force in attempt to commit theft) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered at Sector 39 PS on Thursday. (Representational Image)

AN 80-YEAR-OLD Mohali resident was robbed of two gold bangles by four men in a moving autorickshaw and Chandigarh Police registered a case of snatching instead of filing FIR for robbery. The incident took place on October 10 and the case was registered on Thursday.

Advocate Deepak Negi, maternal grandson of victim Bandeni Devi of 3B1 in Mohali, raised objection over the registration of FIR for snatching and said, “I will challenge these applied sections in the FIR in the district courts, Sector 43. The FIR should have been registered under Section 392 (robbery) of IPC. Besides, instead of lodging an FIR the same day, police registered the FIR after a 24-hour delay. I also found that the CCTV cameras near Palsora barrier dysfunctional.”

Bandeni Devi was robbed of two bangles when she was coming by auto from Phase-1 to Sector 38 on Wednesday. An FIR under sections 379 (theft), 356 (criminal force in attempt to commit theft) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered at Sector 39 PS on Thursday.

A senior police officer said, “The victim woman was giving contradictory statements. Once she stated that four men in the auto, including the driver, forcibly took away her two gold bangles. Later, she claimed that she had been hypnotised by one of the men, who along with others, took away her gold bangles. She also claimed that when she was dropped near the Woollen Market roundabout, Sector 38, she gave Rs 10 to the auto driver.”

ASP Niharika Bhatt said, “Though we lodged an FIR for snatching, option to amend the FIR with the charges of robbery is open.”

According to the FIR, Bandeni Devi hired the auto from Phase-1 to Sector 38 around 9 am. Four men were already sitting in the auto, two in the front and two at the back. Bandeni Devi sat between two men. In the FIR, the woman reported subsequently, four of them started threatening her and forcibly took away her two gold bangles. They dropped the woman near the Woollen Market roundabout at Sector 38 around 10 am.

Advocate Deepak Negi said, “Bandeni Devi was coming to visit one of her daughters at the latter’s house in Sector 38. Scared and confused, she reached our house and narrated the incident to me. So I rushed to Sector 39 Police Station with her. Though it is a fit case of robbery, the police registered an FIR for snatching. Police should apply Section 392 (robbery) of IPC in this case.”

On Wednesday night, an auto driver snatched a purse containing Rs 1,200 from a Dhanas resident, Ram Haran (65), and sped off near GMSH-16. Ram Haran hired the auto near PGI. A case was registered at Sector 11 PS.