Two youths held for snatching gold chains

The accused got addicted to leading a lavish lifestyle The Banjara Hills police on Saturday caught two youngsters who snatched gold chains from 62 persons in the past eight months from different parts of the city. Gold chains weighing 1.07 kg. and a Karizma bike which they purchased with the money they gained from selling some snatched chains - all worth Rs. 33 lakh - were recovered from the accused, Syed Omar Pasha and Zubair Khan. Aged about 22 years, both the accused are dropped out of their Intermediate course and resorted to chain snatchings having got addicted to lavish lifestyle, West zone DCP, Stephen Ravindra, said. Pasha's uncle, Syed Mohammed Ali, 40, who abetted the duo by doing reconnaissance of residential localities to identify areas for committing chain snatchings, is absconding. Ali used to move around on bike and alert them if policemen are around. “He also helped them in disposing the stolen chains,” the DCP said. Police hope to detect some more chain snatching cases after catching Ali. A lead from the Commissioner's Task Force helped the Banjara Hills police catch the two youngsters. The gang struck 27 times in West zone followed by East-15, South-10, Central-9 and North-1. The gang used to target morning walkers usually between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Mr. Stephen Ravindra said parents of the two youngsters knew about the snatchings committed by them. Still, they kept quiet as they made use of the money their sons gave them by selling the snatched chains.