Man held on Friday behind Jan 23 snatchings: Police

The accused was arrested by the Chandigarh Police on Friday,when he was fleeing with a woman’s purse he had allegedly snatched at Sector 43-44 roundabout.

He was produced in the court on Saturday and sent to police custody for one day.

The 26-year-old accused is a drug addict and comes from a business family,the police said. He did his BBA in Canada and returned last year. In June 2009,he allegedly took to snatchings to buy drugs.

Kaushal is the only son of his parents and used to commit the crime alone on his scooter. “He owns two scooters — Honda Activa and Eterno. Before committing the crime,he used to cover the number plates by pasting a piece of paper on them,” the police said.

His parents are into the business of manufacturing surgical instruments. The police said he was not a member of any gang and was arrested for the first time.

“With money his sole goal,he used to always snatch purses. He committed a spate of snatchings in Sectors 38,39,51,44,33 and 32 in the last three months,” Uday Pal Singh,SHO of Sector-34 police station,said. “He was sent to a rehabilitation centre in February. But after lying low for some time,he took to the crime again.”

After taking out the money,the accused used to throw away the purses while driving,the police said.

‘35 cases solved’

With his arrest,the police claimed to have solved 35 incidents of snatchings,allegedly committed by Sahil on his scooter in the last six months.

Of these,eight cases were reported on January 23,when the police control room had received eight distress calls from women between 11 am and 1.30 pm.

On the day,the police said,Kaushal had set out on his Honda Eterno scooter. He allegedly started his operation in Sector 22 and committed snatchings in Sectors 38,43,35,15,19,32 and left the city from Sector 49. In every sector,he targeted women.

In the evening,another snatching incident was reported on the road dividing Sectors 25 and 38.

In this incident,the victims had sustained minor injuries.