Hyderabad: Cops shoot at chain snatchers, miss them

An anti-chain snatching squad opened fire on two chain snatchers on a bike who tried to snatch a woman’s gold chain at Vanasthalipuram on Monday morning.

The duo, who came on a Pulsar bike, however escaped unhurt. Though the two cops, who were in civil dress, chased them on another bike, they could not catch them.

One of the cops fired two rounds with his 9mm service pistol but missed the target. Senior officials said that he missed since the target was moving quickly.

There are currently 60 armed anti-chain snatching squads in Cyberabad to tackle the menace.

Senior police officials said that the snatcher, who was riding pillion on the bike, had a knife, which he threatened the cops with when they tried to catch them. “The cops opened fire in self defence. The snatchers pushed a constable and swung a knife at him when he tried to catch them. The other constable then opened fire. But he missed the target,” said LB Nagar DCP Tafseer Iqbal.

CCTV footages showed that the duo approached the victim on a bike from behind and attempted to snatch her chain. Meanwhile, one cop, who was behind the woman, ran towards the offenders and tried to catch them.

However, they pushed him and moved forward. Another cop, who was standing on the roadside also rushed towards the bike. But he could not catch them. He then took out a firearm and fired twice.

The bikers escaped without stopping the vehicle. The cops then followed on their bike.

The incident occurred near Rajdhani crossroad in Autonagar at around 11.10 am when the victim, Ms Sai Anuradha, was walking towards her home.