15 October,2020 06:18 AM IST | Mumbai | The Editorial
Fatka gang members arrested
Three members of the city's notorious 'fatka' gang were arrested by the Wadala GRP on Monday. One of the accused is a history-sheeter who was previously booked in five cases, including murder.
The modus operandi of this gang is to target train commuters standing near the doors. When the unsuspecting target is busy talking on his mobile near the door, the fatka gang strikes. The criminals strike the hand holding the phone. The startled commuter drops his mobile and the fatka thieves vamoose with it. Sporadically, we hear the gang using the same trick when commuters hold briefcases too.
Do not let the name fatka fool you into thinking that this is a small, little harmless gang that targets commuters for their phones, just larking about. The fatka gang is absolutely deadly and this is why it is best to nab as many members as possible immediately.
Fatka is deceptively innocuous-sounding. These though are not petty thieves but murderers. Take the absolute cauldron they operate in. Packed trains, commuters hanging on for dear life near doorways. Some are preoccupied talking on phones. A fatka is not just for doing away with the phone, or an office bag with money, maybe some valuables. A startled commuter can fall off the train and lose his life. We need to see this through the correct prism, that of much more serious crime than simple theft.
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That that there is a history-sheeter who has jumped his parole, in this gang, a man previously booked for murder, just shows the level of danger these criminals operate at.
This opinion piece had earlier pointed out how it is a huge mistake to treat fatka cases as trivial. Commuters must complain and action must be swift, like in the case of the latest arrests, and punitive action must be severe to decimate the deadly, murderous fatka.
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