Chain-Snatchers are making a mockery of thousands of Policemen around us!

In spite of thousands of heavily armed Policemen on every road, lane, nook and corner of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad  and all over Telangana, the incidents of thieves snatching gold chains from women folk has become very common.  With the price of gold on the rise and the enthusiasm, dedication and sole concentration of the Policemen on curbing the ongoing agitation, the Chain-Snatchers are having a field day. Yesterday evening, at about 7:30 PM when my friend and his wife were in the busy Begumpet area on the opposite side of Stoppers Shop, thieves on a Motorbike approached them and violently pulled out his wife’s Mangalasutram-gold chain and rode away. The incident caused a minor but painful neck injury to her and a loss of very sentimental gold Mangalasutram, weighing 70 grams.   

I really do not know what the Policemen are doing to prevent such crime, which is a great cause of worry to each and every girl and woman, as they are bound to have on them some amount of gold jewellery. My mother is a victim of such theft in broad daylight in front of our house at about 10:30 AM on 10th June 2004. She lost 11 Tolas that is 110 grams of gold which is worth about Rs. 2.90 Lakhs today. I have produced below the Police Station’s FIR – First Information Report, giving details of this theft. Another reason for producing the FIR here is to let readers who have never seen an FIR before to get an idea about it. My mother’s complaint was given hand written and in Telugu, but what you see in the FIR is in English and not entirely a true translation.

What exactly happened that day and is reported to the Police is as follows: Two well built men posing as Policemen confronted my mother who was then 85 years old on the busy road in front of our house. They cautioned her not to move out with gold jewellery as there are thieves on the prowl in this area. And in spite of her resistance, they insisted that she take off her jewellery – a gold chain and 4 gold bangles, then they packed the jewellery in a piece of paper and asked her to tie it to the pallu of her sari and go home safely. Soon after that my mother came home and when she opened the packet in front of us there was only a piece of flat and round stone in it! Immediately we rushed out of the house along with my mother to trace the thieves but in vain. We then approached the Police.

They initially gave us hope of tracing the thieves and restoring the ornaments to us but ultimately they did nothing in all these 7 years. I do not know whether thieves are ever caught, and if caught what happens to them and the recovered jewellery. But when it comes to even peaceful rallies by students, women or men to demonstrate against injustices done to them and their region which are not being addressed by the authorities for decades, they are violently prevented from protesting, arrested, tortured and criminal cases filed against them. May be they are right from their point of view but as long as I see their inhuman behavior on TV, the unabated chain-snatching spree and the dumb response to our complaint against theft of 11 Tolas of gold I can never form a good opinion about them.