Mumbai:
Chain snatchers have been known to come up with innovative ideas, which involve startling or grossing out the victim before they are looted.
This time, the police are miffed by the 'thook patti' gang which is known to spit on the targets before snatching their valuables, and already has more than 100 cases of chain and bag snatching in the area registered against them, in the past few weeks.
One such victim is Anita Gaikwad. Last month, robbers snatched her gold chain near the Hub mall in Goregaon (East) using the same modus operandi.
The bikers spat on Anita as soon as her rickshaw slowed down, snatched her chain, and zoomed away on the bike.
In another case, two men on a speeding bike threw dirt on a resident at two Goregaon women, and snatched their purses.
The duo lodged a complaint at the Goregaon (east) police station, but action is yet to be initiated. The gang has not even spared the police they also looted two cops in the last two weeks.
The police are clueless except the name of the gang. Beat marshals and detection teams of the respective police stations have been ineffective.
While 73 cases have been registered with the Goregaon (East), 15 with Dindoshi police station, 16 at Samta Nagar along the Western Express highway.
"We are aware of the nuisance of these chain snatchers.
We have appointed special beat marshals to nab them and have been deploying heavy bandobast on this stretch of the Western Express highway, said Additional commissioner of police, (Region 5) Ramrao Pawar.
He added, "We have told the citizens in the area to be alert of bikers following them. In the coming days, we are forming a new escort to curb the increasing number of thefts."
A police officer said, "We have no sketches or descriptions of the accused. The victims say that they were wearing helmets and so it's difficult to identify them.
They ride fast, making it difficult to take down the bike numbers. Most of the victims are women travelling alone."
This time, the police are miffed by the 'thook patti' gang which is known to spit on the targets before snatching their valuables, and already has more than 100 cases of chain and bag snatching in the area registered against them, in the past few weeks.
One such victim is Anita Gaikwad. Last month, robbers snatched her gold chain near the Hub mall in Goregaon (East) using the same modus operandi.
The bikers spat on Anita as soon as her rickshaw slowed down, snatched her chain, and zoomed away on the bike.
In another case, two men on a speeding bike threw dirt on a resident at two Goregaon women, and snatched their purses.
The duo lodged a complaint at the Goregaon (east) police station, but action is yet to be initiated. The gang has not even spared the police they also looted two cops in the last two weeks.
The police are clueless except the name of the gang. Beat marshals and detection teams of the respective police stations have been ineffective.
While 73 cases have been registered with the Goregaon (East), 15 with Dindoshi police station, 16 at Samta Nagar along the Western Express highway.
"We are aware of the nuisance of these chain snatchers.
We have appointed special beat marshals to nab them and have been deploying heavy bandobast on this stretch of the Western Express highway, said Additional commissioner of police, (Region 5) Ramrao Pawar.
He added, "We have told the citizens in the area to be alert of bikers following them. In the coming days, we are forming a new escort to curb the increasing number of thefts."
A police officer said, "We have no sketches or descriptions of the accused. The victims say that they were wearing helmets and so it's difficult to identify them.
They ride fast, making it difficult to take down the bike numbers. Most of the victims are women travelling alone."
