Ranchi residents scared of rising thefts, chain snatchings

Rising incidents of theft and chain snatching in Jharkhand's capital city have left the residents a worried lot.

On Saturday, there were four incidents of theft in four flats and snatching of chains of women besides Rs.6.50 lakh being looted from a trader. All incidents occurred in broad daylight.

Miscreants raided four flats in the city's Shanti Enclave apartment complex and took away jewellery worth of Rs.8 lakhs.

The criminals also looted Rs.6.50 lakhs from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Latehar district president Lal Motinath Sahdeo in the city's Pandara locality. He was robbed as he withdrew cash from his bank and was heading towards a company.

On Thursday, there were three incidents of theft in Ranchi's Bariatu locality, with the thieves managing to escape with jewellery and cash worth lakhs of rupees in broad daylight.

Though a total of 20 theft and robbery cases have been reported in the last two months in Ranchi, police have failed to crack any case.

At many places, women say they have stopped wearing gold chains, fearing snatching.

"In some cases young boys are involved in theft and chain snatching incidents. There are a few biker gangs who are involved in chain snatching. We will soon crack all the cases. In some cases, theft took place after rendering the residents unconscious," a police official told IANS.

Ranchi police has made a public appeal for installing CCTV cameras for safety.

"The women in our locality have stopped wearing gold chains. There is hardly any woman whose gold chain may not have been snatched," Poonam Gupta, a resident of Anantpur told IANS.

In Jharkhand, there were 10,154 cases of theft reported in 2015.