Mumbai:
The Malad police have arrested a 27-year-old chain snatcher who jumped parole after an earlier arrest. The accused tried to snatch a 42-year-old woman's gold chain, which later turned out to be artificial. The robber claimed that he had stolen the chain for money to return to his native place.
The complainant, identified as Sumitra Kumbhar, who resides in Malad (W) was returning home from her factory in Malad (E) on Sunday night. When she and her daughter-in-law reached the foot over bridge at Chincholi in Malad (W), two men intercepted them and threatened them with a chopper demanding that she hand over her gold chain. When she resisted, one of the men slapped her and snatched her chain. Sumitra then raised an alarm.
Hearing her screams, the two robbers, identified as 31-year-old Wilfred Joseph and Rizwan Qureshi began to run. Hitesh Sawant, 25, an IT engineer who was passing by intercepted Joseph and nabbed him.
"Joseph, who was carrying a knife, attacked Sawant on his left hand. However, Sawant did not loosen his grip and held Joseph until locals gathered and caught him. Meanwhile, Rizwan managed to flee," said API Mohan Hadpude from Malad police station. Sawant was taken to Siddhartha Hospital in Goregaon (W), from doctors discharged him after administering preliminary treatment.
Upon interrogating Joseph, the police found out that he was a gas cylinder deliveryman and was a resident of Bangalore. In 2005, Joseph had been convicted for life for killing a man in Bandarainpura. He had been lodged in the Central jail at Bangalore for the last seven years. In August, Joseph had exited the jail on parole and was supposed to report to the police station on August 18.
However, Joseph jumped parole and came to Mumbai to stay with Rizwan at his Malwani residence in Malad (W). "Joseph had met Rizwan in jail where the latter had been convicted for pick pocketing.
Rizwan told Joseph to come to Mumbai after he got out of jail," added Hadpude. Joseph told the police that when he jumped parole and came to Mumbai, he was broke. Rizwan had suggested that they turn to chain snatching as a solution. The Malad police have arrested Joseph for robbery.