Hot on snatchers' heels, Tambaram cops track 186 CCTV cameras, nab them by shoes
On May 12, the duo was involved in a snatching incident on Bajanai Koil Street in Pallavaram in which they snatched a three-sovereign chain from S Amsavalli (48).
Footage from CCTV cameras show accused on the move
CHENNAI: They were shrewd enough to dispose of the number plates from the bike and hide their faces with helmets when they went around snatching gold chains of women in southern suburbs. However, the white shoes worn by one of the accused ended up being their ‘Achilles heel’ as Tambaram city police went through footage from 186 CCTV cameras from Pallavaram to Purasawalkam to arrest two college students on Friday.
On May 12, the duo was involved in a snatching incident on Bajanai Koil Street in Pallavaram in which they snatched a three-sovereign chain from S Amsavalli (48). CCTV footage shows the accused on a blue Yamaha R15 bike riding past the victim and speeding off as the woman made a futile chase on foot.
The incident happened around 5 pm, according to a complaint by Amsavalli, who was in the neighbourhood looking for houses on rent. Pallavaram police had registered a case based on Amsavalli’s complaint.
Since there were no number plates on the bike, the special team tasked to solve the case had to do the hard yards to trace the bike’s movements to zero in on the suspects.
“In total, 186 CCTV cameras were perused from the scene of the crime, Bajanai Koil Street, tracking the bike along Thiruneermalai road, Tambaram, Chennai Bypass, Porur to Purasawalkam where the accused lived,” said GK Venkat Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Pallavaram).
The special team found that the youths, with pillion-rider in white shoes, from an earlier CCTV footage had parked their bike near a textile showroom at Purasawalkam. The cops then went on a door-to-door search in the neighbourhood and finally succeeded in tracking the accused, G Satish Kumar (19), a first-year BCA student at a private university, from his house on Friday.
Based on Satish Kumar’s inputs, police arrested his accomplice, Muhammad Ali (22) of Washermanpet, and recovered the stolen chain. The accused were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.