Undeterred by possible arrest, Gurugram snatchers make merry

GURUGRAM: In spite of the Haryana government making snatching a non-bailable offence, snatchers in Gurugram seem to have no fear of the law.

So far this year, over 400 snatching cases have been officially registered with Gurugram police – a huge spike from last year's 138.

There are over 40 snatching cases reported each month from the city.

Shockingly, most of these incidents are happening not only in desolate places, but even in crowded localities and that too during rush hour.

Swati Saxena, a resident of Noida extension, was robbed of her valuables near the busy Sikanderpur Metro station around 8.00 pm on Wednesday.

During the snatching, the victim laptop was broken into pieces.

Recalling her ordeal, Saxena said she was threatened with dire consequences if she resisted the robbery attempt.

One of the biggest impediments is stopping snatching is the lack of filing of an FIR in most cases, which stops the case from being pursued further.

There are also problems in identifying the accused, as snatchers are normally in groups while targetting their victims.

Recently, a person accused of stealing a woman's phone was let-off by a court due to lack of evidence.

A worrying factor in these cases is that many snatchers are not even deterred by the threat of police action.

Most culprits continue to indulge in snatching and proceed to more sinister acts of crime, such as burglaries, kidnappings and murder.

"Snatching is a stepping stone for them to graduate to bigger crimes," said a police official from Gurugram police.