Chennai police Solve 85% chain snatching cases with CCTV footage

CHENNAI: Believe it or not but the Chennai police have solved 85% of chain snatching cases since January this year, some within hours of getting reported. In the past 10 months, 405 cases have been registered across 12 police districts and 345 of them have been cracked. This has been made possible by the 51,000-odd CCTV cameras installed across the city after an intense drive by the police commisionerate.


Senior IPS officers said before June the number of chain snatching cases registered every day was around five, that has now come down to one or two. The number of CCTV cameras installed in the city continues to increase with 100 more added in the past four days at Pallavaram and Porur.



Statistics show that chain snatching is rampant in police districts which cover areas added to Greater Chennai Corporation in the western and southern parts. St Thomas Mount and Ambattur top with 68 cases, while Anna Nagar has second most cases with 64. Number of incidents in inner city areas like Mylapore, Pulianthope, Adyar and Kilpauk is comparatively lower.

Commissioner A K Vishwanathan, who has stressed on the importance of CCTVs and has been urging resident welfare associations to have more installations, said cameras help bust crime easily. “During night we sleep, but CCTVs don’t. Now criminal elements are coming in from other states who leave quickly after the crime. Earlier, it was difficult to trace them, but with CCTVs it has become easier,” he said while inaugurating CCTV installations at Porur on Sunday.

Among police circles, Anna Nagar deputy commissioner of police Dr M Sudhakar has been praised for solving chain snatching cases using CCTV footage within hours. Sudhakar told TOI that CCTV cameras give police teams multiple footage of a single incident and photos of the suspect immediately.

“This has reduced the resources deployed for cracking such cases. Earlier we would had limited clues while starting the investigation. CCTV gives instant results,” he said.

A senior police officer said most of the chain snatchers were youngsters who looked to make quick bucks to buy high-end mobile phones or bikes.

“Many of them are from lower socio-economic backgrounds in the age group of 15 to 25. They are either in school or college. Some are dropouts,” Sudhakar said.