Chain snatchers resurface in Pune after brief lull

PUNE: Chain snatchers struck thrice - once each at Vishrantwadi, Hadapsar and Lonikand - on Thursday and Friday, after lying low for a while.
In the first case, two men on a bike snatched the gold chain, worth Rs90,000, of a 55-year-old woman when she was walking after dinner at Dhanori in Vishrantwadi on Thursday. The Vishrantwadi police said the two men came on a motorcycle, one of them snatched her chain and sped away.
Cut to Manjari Budruk. A scooterist snatched a chain, worth Rs30,000, of a 76-year-old woman out on a morning walk on Friday. The Hadapsar police said the man came from the rear and pushed the woman on the pretext of asking her to hand over the newspaper. He then snatched her chain with force, but half of it came in his hand. He fled with the part of the chain.
On the same day, a man snatched two chains, collectively valued at Rs1.25 lakh, of a 30-year-old woman after she alighted from a car to attend a wedding ceremony at Perne Phata on Pune-Ahmednagar road. The Lonikand police said the woman was walking to the wedding hall when the man came walking from the opposite side, snatched her chain and fled.
The victims lodged three separate complaints related to chain-snatchings with the Vishrantwadi, Hadapsar and the Lonikand police. Officers said they were analysing footage of CCTV cameras, checking criminals on records and working on certain clues.