PM's niece falls prey to snatchers in Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's niece has become the latest victim of snatching in the national capital with her purse and phone wrenched from her grasp by two persons when she was alighting from an auto-rickshaw on Saturday.

Based on a complaint by Damayanti Ben Modi, daughter of the prime minister's brother Prahlad Modi, police registered a case.

The incident happened soon after Damayanti Ben reached Delhi from Amritsar in the morning.

Two persons on a scooter snatched her purse containing her phone, some documents and valuables around 7 am when the woman got down at the Gujrati Samaj Bhawan in North Delhi's Civil Lines area, a senior police officer said.

Damayanti Ben had a flight to Ahmedabad in the evening.

She informed police and on her statement, the case under section 356 (assault or criminal force in attempt to commit theft of property carried by a person) and 379 (punishment for theft) was registered at Civil Lines police station, they said, adding some suspects have been detained.

Police also said that they are examining CCTV footage of nearby areas.

"I came to Delhi and reached Gujarati Samaj Bhavan on Saturday morning. I was scheduled to take a flight for Gujarat in the evening. I was getting off the auto-rickshaw when the snatchers targeted me," the woman said.

In the past couple of months, several incidents of snatching have taken reported in the national capital.

On September 22, a woman journalist was injured after she attempted to resist a snatching bid in south Delhi's CR park while she was returning home in an auto-rickshaw.

Two men on motorcycle snatched her mobile phone and in the struggle, she fell from the vehicle while the men fled the spot.

A few days later, another woman journalist fell victim when her mobile phone was snatched by two bike-borne men in southeast Delhi's Okhla.