Notorious chain snatcher with 157 cases across country arrested

Bengaluru: The Girinagar police have arrested a 40-year-old chain snatcher linked to 157 cases across the country.

The police said on August 19, around 8.15 pm, Achuth Kumar alias Gani, a Dharwad native, targeted a woman as she was unlocking her door after returning from a temple visit.

Wearing a helmet to conceal his identity, he distracted her by asking about her husband's whereabouts before snatching the chain she was wearing and fleeing. A complaint was later registered at the Girinagar police station.

During the investigation, the police identified the chain snatcher as Kumar, who is doing time at Telangana’s Charlapalli Jail for a separate offence. He was arrested by the Hyderabad police in another case.

On October 11, Kumar was brought to Bengaluru on a body warrant and produced before a court, which remanded him to police custody for 18 days. Following his interrogation, the police recovered 310 grams of stolen gold ornaments, and the two-wheeler used in the crime, valued at Rs 24.15 lakh.

With Kumar’s arrest, the police solved eight chain-snatching cases across Karnataka. After his police custody, Kumar was sent back to Charlapalli Jail and remanded to judicial custody.