Beat marshal nabs chain snatcher as he was trying to flee on his scooter; crook confesses to 40 cases
Beat marshal nabs chain snatcher as he was trying to flee on his scooter; crook confesses to 40 casesu00a0
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In a profession where speed and agility are tools of the trade, a one-legged chain snatcher has been scoring gold chains and mangalsutras by the dozen. But his luck ran out, when he was caught red-handed by the VP Road police while trying to snatch a mangalsutra from a housewife at SVP Road near Charni Road station.
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| Caught: Mehtab Mohammad Sharif Ansari was arrested by the VP Road police while trying to snatch a mangalsutra from a housewife at SVP Road near Charni Road station |
The VP road police arrested Mehtab Mohammad Sharif Ansari (39), and discovered that he was involved in over 40 cases of chain snatching.
During interrogation the police discovered that Ansari had broken his leg in a road accident seven years ago, while attempting to flee with a stolen gold chain. But instead of mending his ways, Ansari used his handicap to his advantage and elude the police.
"Ansari broke his leg in a road accident while trying to flee with a gold chain at Byculla. But it did not deter him from giving up on the crime," said sub-inspector Milind Kate of VP Road police station.
According to the cops, Ansari uses crutches to walk and hangs them on his scooter while committing his crimes. This helped him gain sympathy and he managed to pass through naakabandis without much scrutiny.
Case in point On September 5, as Dakshata Kadam, a housewife, was stepping out of a tailor's shop, Ansari lunged at her and snatched her mangalsutra. While he was trying to escape, Kadam raised an alarm and a beat constable S Karade, who was on patrol duty, gave chase and nabbed Ansari.
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Ansari was produced before the Girgaum court, and was remanded to police custody. "He has confessed to at least 40 cases till now. He operates on a scooter, and hangs his crutches on the two-wheeler to gain sympathy during police nakabandis," Kate added.
Investigations have also revealed that Ansari, who owned just one hutment at Apna Nagar near Byculla Fire Brigade, is now the owner of four such hutments. He has rented out the other three slums from where he gets a monthly rent of Rs 12,000.
