Thane: Cops go undercover to nab a chain snatcher in Ambivali

Abbas Amjad Irani has cases against him in Delhi as well. Pic/Hanif Patel

Sleuths of the crime branch of Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police went to great lengths to nab a chain snatcher recently at Ambivali in Thane district. They mixed up in the community as fruit sellers, eatery owners, an autorickshaw driver, and did not shave and bathe for weeks, wore tattered slippers and soiled clothes, just to conduct recce for 15 days in the area. Once they managed to catch hold of 24-year-old Abbas Amjad Irani, the cops literally carried him on their shoulders for over 500-metres to avoid locals attacking them, and then crossed railway tracks to arrest him.

A source in Crime Branch unit-2 told mid-day that Irani was involved in chain snatching cases registered at Manikpur police station last February. The police went to Ambivali to arrest him but his gang-members alerted the whole community. The cops returned empty handed.

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The police then thought hard to outsmart him in his den, where the Irani community has a history of stone-pelting at cops if they arrive to arrest a chain snatcher.
After five visits to Ambivali, the cops found a hotel where Irani always dined, and crime branch sleuths got hold of him on April 3.

"Two of our officers tried to stop his motorcycle when he arrived, and he fell. Two more of our officers nearby joined. The four officers then lifted Irani and crossed the railway tracks, walking across 500 mtrs and bundled him into an autorickshaw. It was driven to a police vehicle and we brought him to Vasai for further investigation," said Inspector Sahuraj Ranaware, in-charge of Crime Branch unit-2.

The crime branch sleuths had even rumours that someone was killed. By the time the Irani gang members learnt that no murder had taken place, the police had crossed with Irani, half way to Vasai.

DCP (Crime Branch) Avinash Ambure, said, "Irani is involved in seven cases of chain snatching incidents in Vasai Virar-Nalasopara. He is also accused in 21 cases registered in Mumbai and Thane district. There are two MCOCA cases against him."

Ranaware added that Irani was trained by his father and uncle, who are also in police custody. He said in Delhi more than 100 chain snatching cases are registered against Irani.

Illustrations/Uday Mohite

1 Crime branch officers mix up amid locals as a rickshaw driver, fruit sellers, buyers etc. doing recce to nab their target, chain-snatcher 24-year-old Abbas Amjad Irani in Ambivali, Thane

2 Irani arrives on his bike to dine at a hotel and two cops grab him, but he falls

3 Two more cops nearby join them and they overpower him. The four quickly carry him on their shoulders

4 They walk with him from Vasai West to Vasai East across railway tracks towards a waiting rickshaw

5 He is put into the rickshaw driven by a crime branch officer and ferried towards a waiting police vehicle

6 They put him into the police vehicle and take him to crime branch unit-2 office at Vasai