It was always something that happened to others. Or part of the crime news that you read over the morning cuppa and turned the page. Forgotten in memory till the next time a similar incident came across. If the area sounded familiar you reacted, "It happened there! Impossible with so many people milling around!" And you turned the page yet again.

Recently, a colleague was a victim of chainu2013snatching in a Western Railway local. Returning from office one Sunday evening, around 8.15 pm the local had barely pulled out from Matunga a man leapt into the compartment. By the time any one of us could react, the train had already gathered speed and was rolling into Mahim. The victim did not even realise it her back was to the entrance. We, who just saw a man brushing past her neck, knew what had happened when she found her chain missing. Before you screamed b*****d, the man had disappeared into thin air.

All that we could remember was that he was attired in black with a cap pulled across his face. There were five commuters in the ladies' compartment. One of them mentioned that she saw him boarding; why didn't she ask him to get off? Another heard the scream and only then realised what was happening. Each had their own version to tell.