Thursday, May 7, 2009

Chain Snatcher nabbed - How...

My sister-in-law had been on a tour to Hrishikesh-Hardwar and some other nearby places with her family and other relatives and returned a couple of days back.

All these days we have read 'news' about chain-snatching but this time my close relative went through this horrifying experience:

They had visited Hrishikesh, Hardwar etc. and had come to Dehra Dun. They were on their way to Ambala. They had to change trains, in-between, at Kalka station. They caught the train at 7.30 pm. It was a non-a/c second class. The journey was just for 4 hours. They were altogether 5 persons. They were chatting for sometime and except my sister-in-law and her nephew (around 26 years old), others were sleeping. My sister-in-law was sitting near the window and the shutter was closed. Her nephew was sitting opposite her. At around 9.30 pm, a man with a khaki dress entered and roamed here and there and was standing near their seats. These people thought that the man was a railway policeman! My sister-in-law says, he was drunk also.

Suddenly, the man made a loud sound and just dived towards my sister-in-law and snatched her chain. Nobody expected this action from that man. She just got scared and holding onto her chain, started shouting loudly. Her nephew tried to catch hold of him but the man was sticky (may be oily) and slipped from his hand. He then caught his pant and then my brother-in-law woke up and both of them started hitting him. Then other passengers also joined and somebody went and locked the doors of the compartment, so that the thief would not run outside. They tied his hands with some towel and went to look for the ticket collector. He was handed over to the police at the next station (he was thrashed thoroughly before that!).

The chain she was wearing was joined with a thin chain with mangalsutra, by two thin rings. The ends of the rings were not welded together, but just closed with a plyer. This came off when the thief pulled the chain. She had pinned the chain to her blouse and the chain itself was in between the buttons in the blouse. So she did not miss the thali (mangalsutra).

With this personal experience, my SIL is advising everyone not to wear gold chains while going on tour or to be on the safer side, when you go by train anywhere! She just escaped with some bruises in her neck, this time.

One more important point is, the other passengers also helped them in catching the thief, instead of just watching the drama. If all of us act together when such things happen, we can be assured of a safe journey.

15 comments :

Saritha said...

Chain snatching is very common in india,but getting help from people is very uncommon.

Once my mom was attacked buy a theif who throwed red chilly powder on her and tried to snatch her chain near our house.No one came to her help,she was holding the chain so tightly that the theif couldn't pull it from her hand and he ran away.Her two chains broke :(

Anonymous said...

phew... close shave.. thankfully no harm done... !!

Destination Infinity said...

I can't understand how people assume that by making a lot of money, which they don't actually deserve, they could be happy!!

Destination Infinity

Sandhya said...

Varunavi: Yes. Getting help is not common because people are scared of the thieves and scared of the police station trip. And scare because they might get hurt. They do not think that this might happen to them also and others will just watch.

hitchwriter: The thief was caught, which is very important.

D.I.: If people think like this, we will not have people who will steal, murder for the goodies! Our earth will be a paradise!

Anonymous said...

This was so scary....
thank god he was caught!

Solilo said...

That was a close shave. Scary!
Glad that no harm done.

Anonymous said...

That was good, ...great!! This is how it should be!

I have seen a chain snatching incidence in Delhi once, but those guys escaped on a motor bike, although it was a very crowded road. The victim stood stunned touching her neck, so I thought she was saying something about her neck, she kept waving a frightened finger at to very hefty men on a bike disappearing very fast.
By the time she managed to say chain, and the police disengaged themselves from the autowallas they were harassing, these men had disappeared.

I was shaken at the thought that them men escaped so easily - they would have escaped the same way if there was a murder ??

Shilpa said...

thats a horrible incident. must have left her shaken.
she was clever pinning the chain to the blouse

Sandhya said...

Indyah: Yes, that is the best part here, in this incident. He must be an experienced chain snatcher. Just snatch and run out. Some passenger had closed the doors, immediately, my SIL said. And people stood there too.

Solilo: Yes. She had only slight bruises. In one way, the snapping of the link-ring was for good.

IHM: Yes, in most of the cases, the victims become numb with shock. So the thieves escape. Motor bike chain snatchers are very common nowadays. Somebody said that they look back and laugh at the victim while going away. One more thing is, the thali chain (mangal sutra chain) is sentimental for us, South Indians. So if we lose the thali, women get affected, psychologically too, at least for some time.

Sandhya said...

Shilpa: I mentioned it mainly because others should follow this as a safe guard.

Renu said...

Chain snatching is very common everywhere, thats why i am really surprised when I see everyone wearing many chains in chennai.
and I am very glad to know that the thief was caught.
In Kanpur,someone took the chain from my friend in the compound of her own apartments.

Anonymous said...

That was close! Was so happy to read that he was thoroughly thrashed too!! It was good that people reacted and helped - otherwise the guy would have escaped! It makes so much of a difference when people help!

Sandhya said...

Renu: South Indians are crazy about gold! Even I wonder how they wear chains and necklaces,that too they display them on top of the saree and visit temples and other places!

The thief was caught. That is important in this incident.

Smitha: Yes, he was thrashed and when we heard that, we were happy. She still has got some pain in her neck, though. If the other passengers hadn't helped, don't know what would have happened. He had a knife also with him, but was drunk to think about it, maybe.

Sai Charan said...

All those who helped in nabbing the thief have to be greatly appreciated.

I hope the crook will remember the taste of sound thrashing he got from the passengers so that he will never dare to attempt such things in future.

Well, the railway police should seriously keep an eye on the drunken people who board the train and even those who consume alcohol while travelling by train.

Sandhya said...

Sai: This type of incidents happen often in the trains. But in this case, the passengers helped to nab him. That is the important part. Police will take further steps in the station, I think. It is not easy to trace these types of thieves.

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