Mobile snatchers

By Ahna Prakash

Two cases of mobile theft every day in certain stretches, according to the police; thieves mostly teenagers on motorbikes

Cases of mobile theft in the city have seen a spike recently. Areas like Double Road Indiranagar and SK Karim Khan Road witness at least two cases of mobile theft every day, according to the police.

On Wednesday, Shruthia resident of the city registered a complaint with Indiranagar police after her phone was snatched near the Indiranagar Subway.

“I was standing near the subway; two people on a bike came towards me. One of them snatched my phone and escaped. I started screaming and people from the nearby store came outside. They informed me that just 10 minutes ago an old woman’s iPhone was also snatched in a similar manner. I was in shock and didn’t notice the motorcycle’s number plate. Later, I filed a complaint. They took my International Mobile Equipment Identity number (IMEI) and have assured me that they will be able to track down my phone in 10 days,” she said.

Local shopkeepers in the area BM spoke to claimed that it has become a very common occurrence of late and cases of phone snatching happen every day. “It has become a routine now. The thieves are mostly teenagers and they are on motorbikes. In 90% of cases, people don’t get their phones back. It’s not as though there are no police personnel in the area; the fact is that the thieves don’t seem to fear them,” he said Sudeepa shopkeeper on Double Road.

Police said that catching mobile thieves is difficult because they are granted bail in a day and often go back to their mobile snatching business.

“After registering the case, we look for the CCTV footage. Most of the time, we are able to record the bike number and catch the thief. But the main problem is that even if we do catch them, they get bailed out in a day or two, and they go back to being thieves again. So, we are not actually able to help the situation because we catch them but then they are free the very next day,” said the inspector at the Indiranagar police station.

The police also informed that most of the accused are from different states. “We have noticed that in most cases, the culprit is from the neighboring state and is often a young adult between the ages of 19 and 22,” the police noted.