Cops nab snatching racket kingpin

In a major breakthrough, the Detective Department of the Kolkata Police arrested the kingpin of a racket that operates in the city and its outskirts to snatch valuables from people. The accused, Bachcha Karim, was arrested on Friday morning and he was remanded in the custody of the police when produced before the court Friday afternoon.

Police said that the accused were involved in several cases on snatching and he had recruited many youth including some from affluent families in his gang. The modus operandi of the gang was to approach a person from behind on motorbike and flee from the place within a few minutes.

Police had earlier arrested some members of the same gang and came to know about their modus operandi. It may be mentioned that two incidents of snatching took place in the city on Friday. The miscreants used to target mainly women when they took morning walk or when they need to pass through lonely areas while returning from offices.

Acting on a tip-off, the police conducted a raid in a hideout of the accused and arrested him Friday morning. A police officer said that repeated incidents of snatching had become a major problem in different parts of the city. The members of the gang used to get spread to different congested area like shopping malls, markets and outside cinema halls. They used to follow after targeting a person either carrying a hand bag or with a gold chain around his or her neck. They used to approach from behind on motorbike and snatch the chain when the person reaches a lonely area.