The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Bag lifting at bus stations hard to crack, say police

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 24, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bag lifting at bus stations hard to crack, say police

L. Srikrishna

No fingerprints, clues left at crime scene to help detection

CHENNAI : A crowded bus or a teeming terminus provides bag-lifters the anonymity they need to stalk their prey and strike.

Monitoring crowded bus stands and railway stations poses a challenge, say the police. It is almost futile to investigate complaints of missing bags, as the chances of recovery of the stolen goods are remote. Many cases are pending investigation as there are no fingerprints or other identification marks at the scene of crime, a senior police officer said.

Complaints of bag lifting are reported mostly at the Koyambedu, Egmore and T.Nagar areas, from where long distance buses are operated, he added.

With the floating population running to several thousands every day in these transit points, it is near impossible to nab the culprit or recover the property, unless the victims themselves acted swiftly, the officer said.

According to crime police officers, bag lifters were mainly from Andhra Pradesh. Many have re-settled in Rajamangalam in Anna Nagar police district.

Their modus operandi is simple. The bag lifters shadow well-dressed persons boarding buses at Koyambedu and other points. When the passenger alights from the bus to purchase eateries or is seeing off their friends or relatives, the culprits make off with the bag.

Victims

A passenger whose name was given as M Veera Manoharan of Madurai had boarded a private omni bus at T.Nagar in December 2006 bound for Madurai. After placing his suitcase on the rack, he alighted to purchase a mineral water bottle. When he returned to his seat, the bag, which contained Rs 3 lakh cash besides clothes, was missing. The Pondy Bazaar police registered a case under Section 379 IPC on December 20, 2006. But till date, the police have not solved the case. There are similar complaints of valuables and bags missing from Egmore and Koyambedu limits also, police said.

The situation is almost similar in city buses also, where complaints of pickpocketing are reported frequently. A month ago, a senior citizen travelling from Parrys Corner to Royapettah found his bag, which contained Rs 10,000, missing when he was preparing to alight. The Royapettah police have made no headway.

Cent per cent recovery in trains

Contrary to this, the Railway police have shown 100 per cent recovery of lost properties from complaints received during 2006. Recently, the Director General of Police D. Mukherjee, Southern Railway General Manager Thomas Varghese and other senior officers from Railway Police returned lost properties valued at Rs 20 lakh to the owners who had complained of their bags missing while travelling in trains across the State. The Railway police even recovered the stolen cash from the accused.

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