Maha: Policemen turn fruit vendors, auto drivers to nab notorious chain-snatcher

The official said the community members of the accused are known for attacking police parties when they try to arrest any of them

A team of policemen in Maharashtra's Palghar district sold fruits and vegetables, drove autorickshaws and posed as homeless persons before arresting an alleged chain-snatcher as they wanted to avoid a confrontation with his community members, an official said on Friday.

Shahuraj Ranaware, senior inspector of Crime Unit III of Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar police, said the team kept a vigil on accused Abbas Amzad Irani (24) in his neighbourhood at Ambivali wearing different attires for a couple of weeks.

Some of the team members also visited the restaurant that Irani frequented.

The official said the community members of the accused are known for attacking police parties when they try to arrest any of them.

Police wanted to avoid any such clashes and keep the operation incident-free, he said. A few cops dressed poorly and even wandered in the area like vagabonds, he said.

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After cornering Irani in the first week of this month, the policemen bundled him into an auto and drove him to the police station, he said.

With Irani's arrest, the official said, police have detected at least seven cases of chain-snatching in the district. They have also recovered a motorbike and gold jewellery worth nearly Rs 3.31 lakh, he said.

Irani was earlier booked twice under the anti-organised crime law MCOCA and faces 21 cases in the limits of Thane city police, the official said.

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