Meena has asked DIG (Kanpur) Neera Rawat to suspend station officers, sub-inspectors and constables, if they fail to tackle incidents of chain snatching in their areas.

“The DIG has also been instructed to keep note of the timings when chain snatchers are most active,” Meena told The Indian Express on Friday.

Incidents of chain snatching have been on rise for the last few months and over 100 cases of chain snatching have been reported so far this year.

In June alone, 19 cases of chain snatching were reported and the first 10 days of July have witnessed eight such cases. (See Box)

In some of the incidents, women were also injured. On July 4, a woman sustained head injuries after she was thrown out from a moving rickshaw in Saket Nagar by chain snatchers. Around two years ago, a woman lost her life after she was thrown out of a moving auto-rickshaw.

The police have arrested 26 chain snatchers and claimed to have solved 16 of the 19 chain snatching incidents that took place in June. Meena is hopeful of improving the situation.

“Several new gangs and youngsters, who do not have a criminal background, are active, and we have to keep a tab on them too,” Meena said.

Police patrolling, meanwhile, has been increased in places where number of cases have been reported.

The cases
* July 3: A gold chain was snatched near Sachan Guest House
* July 4: A woman was pushed from a moving rickshaw and her chain was snatched in Saket Nagar
* July 5: Three incidents of chain snatching were reported from PPN College, Bramha Nagar and Panki railway station
* July 6: Another incident of chain snatching in Saket Nagar
* July 8: Chain snatchers made a woman their target in Kidwai Nagar
* July 9: A gold chain was snatched from Barra area