Visakhapatnam police arrest seven persons in string of chain snatching cases

The crime wing of Visakhapatnam Police solved nine chain-snatching cases and arrested seven people on Saturday. The seven people include two women and a transgender who are allegedly involved in these crimes across various city locations.

Deputy Commissioner of Police G Naganna revealed on Saturday’s press conference that they had arrested 23-year-old M Surya in connection with four of these cases. These incidents primarily occurred within the MVP Police Station limits, specifically in Sector VI of MVP Colony, Lawsons Bay Colony, and one in Murali Nagar under the Kancharapalem PS limits. The total value of the stolen gold chains in these cases amounted to ₹4.25 lakh, weighing around 15.5 tola.

Another person, 29-year-old P Amit Rao, initially from Chhattisgarh also got arrested. Rao was arrested and taken into custody for two chain-snatching cases that occurred in Bheemunipatnam and Padmanabham. In both instances, he managed to get away with two gold chains weighing around 67.5 grams.

Furthermore, the Malkapuram police arrested two women and a transgender who hail from Gopalapatnam and Vizianagaram respectively. The three of them were identified as A Bhanu (38), P Papa (43) and the transgender individual, B Vamsi Raju, who changed their name to Bhavani (24). These individuals were accused of stealing a 2.5 tola gold chain from a woman in Malkapuram on 21 September. Deputy Commissioner of Visakhapatnam Police Naganna clarified that the trio had turned to chain snatching to support a lavish lifestyle.

As the investigation unfolded, a 27-year-old named N Phanindra from Saripalli, Pendurthi, came under scrutiny. He was apprehended for snatching a four-tola gold chain from a 62-year-old woman in Gopalapatnam on 22 September. Phanindra, a graduate who had previously been employed at an IT firm in Rushikonda, had encountered financial hardships after unsuccessful attempts to work abroad and significant losses in online betting applications. To improve his financial situation, he resorted to chain snatching and had committed another similar incident in Gajuwaka two months prior.

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