A Bhopal shopkeeper confronted three youths fleeing after snatching a girl's chain and, with neighbours' help, handed them to police within 43 seconds.
A shopkeeper in Bhopal intercepted three youths fleeing after snatching a girl's chain, and with help from neighbours, got them into police custody in under a minute. The episode played out in Vallabh Nagar on Tuesday evening, close to 4:45 PM.
The trio was riding an Activa and had come from the direction of Vallabh Bhavan. Two girls on a separate scooter were tailing them, shouting that a chain had just been taken.
Mohammad Akhtar Khan, 52, was at home for dinner when the shouting reached him. He walked out and saw the youths attempting to slip through the lane. The girls were still behind them, calling out for help.
Akhtar runs SF Shoe Point, a footwear shop in Jahangirabad, and lives in Vallabh Nagar No. 2. He placed himself in the path of the two-wheeler, which led to a scuffle. He took injuries in the process but held on until residents joined in and overpowered all three.
The lane, as it turned out, offered the accused no way out. They had tried to reverse the Activa and double back, which is when Akhtar blocked them.
CCTV cameras mounted outside his house recorded the whole sequence. The girls kept chasing and alerting bystanders throughout, which helped bring people out of their homes.
All three were handed to police within roughly 43 seconds of being caught.
Akhtar claimed the accused admitted during questioning to having snatched three mobile phones earlier in the MP Nagar area. That assertion has not been independently verified, and an official police statement is awaited.
Officers are questioning the trio and checking whether they have been involved in other chain-snatching and theft cases in the area.
