Chennai: Chain Snatching Suspect Tracked By Drones; Shot Dead

Following a massive hunt, the Chennai police shot down a suspected chain snatcher and arrested his accomplice in the city suburbs on Monday, October 11. The operation involved at least 200 police personnel and drones. The accused duo hailed from Jharkhand and were employed in menial jobs in the suburbs, cops said.

The accused, identified as Murthaza Sheikh and Naim Akhtar, snatched the six-sovereign gold chain of an elderly woman at Pennalur bus stop on October 10, reported India Today. When the old woman held on to her chain and started screaming, they fired in the air before escaping with the chain, police said. After the news of the theft came to light, 10 police teams were deployed around Irungattukottai Lake, where they were last spotted and drones were used to search them.

Giving the details of a gunfight in Sriperumbudur, police said Sheikh used a sharp weapon to attack and injured a constable when the police team surrounded them near Padur village at around 1pm.

Following the event, the Kancheepuram district superintendent formed units to elicit information and apprehend the perpetrators. A number of parties were formed, and they tracked the two to a location near the Mevalurkuppam Lake in Sriperumbudur, where they encircled Murtha.r. "When these two males tried to steal a 55-year-old woman's gold chain as she was waiting for a bus at a toll plaza near Sriperumbudur, she resisted and sounded an alert." They fired in the air before fleeing with the chain at that point. "We had around 300 police officers searching for the two since Sunday afternoon in the lake area," a senior officer engaged in the operation stated. The officer added, "We have information that the deceased and his accomplice in detention brought the pistol from north India."

Suspected Involvement In Another Crime

Apart from the chain-snatching incident, police suspect that Sheikh and Akhtar were also involved in another incident where an employee of a government-run liquor shop died after sustaining bullet injuries when attacked by a gang.