In a first, smartphone snatcher jailed for 5 years, fined Rs 25k

Earlier, an accused used to get booked under Section 359 of the IPC (non-bailable offense), but seeing the sharp rise in cases of theft and snatching, the state government in October, 2015, introduced a new amendment in Section 379 by adding 379 ‘A’ and ‘B’ that can lead to a imprisonment of up to 10 years.

The First Information Report in the case was registered on December 30 in the Sector 29 police station after the mobile phone of the victim was snatched by the accused at IFFCO Chowk. Additional District Judge Vivek Singhal convicted and sentenced the accused Vicky Kalonia, a resident of Najafgarh, who was apprehended at the spot while committing the crime, since the mobile phone was recovered from the accused at the spot.

However, the father of the accused, Manoj, has a totally different version to say. According to Vicky’s family, he is innocent and has never “showed such traits”. 

“My son worked in a courier company as an executive manager. He is a BA drop out but later had done a course in Graphic Designing,” said Manoj, who works as a labourer in Delhi’s Najafgarh area.

Manoj also feels that the Gurgaon Police have falsely framed his son to set an example for others who are in this profession of snatching and theft. “He was arrested on December 29 last year. It has been three months since his arrest and we have only met 2-3 times. They kept moving him in and out of Bhondsi Jail,” Manoj alleged. Vicky’s father has also claimed his 22-year-old son earned nearly Rs 20,000 a month and by no means would he have indulged in such a crime.

However, according to Gurgaon Police sources, the night Vicky was arrested near IFFCO Chowk Metro station by a patrolling PCR, the accused was riding a stolen motorcycle for which he was booked too. However, his family claimed that even though he was riding his friend’s motorcycle.

Meanwhile, the accused’s family is planning to move a bail application in the Gurgaon court. The father has also claimed that during the court proceedings of the case, the Gurgaon Police officials did not let him sit through the hearings and was thrown out on numerous occasions.

To keep a check on the rising cases of snatching, the Gurgaon Police had formed an anti-snatching investigation team in 2015 to curb the crime. The Gurgaon Police registered over 300 cases of snatching last year, which shows that at least one case of snatching is reported each day in the city. 

Also, the data received from the Gurgaon Police headquarters reveals that since the new amendment was brought in October 2015 under Section 379-A of the IPC, 62 cases were registered between October to December 2015 and 69 cases were registered from January to March, 2016.

The year 2013 recorded a total of 226 cases of snatching, while 282 were registered in 2012, which shows that there has been a substantial rise in the crime in the recent years.