Delhi residents worried over growing incidents of snatching, attacks

Growing incidents of snatchings and attacks by bike-borne criminals have become a major concern for residents of Delhi and has led to a sense of insecurity and unease in them.

New Delhi [India], Sept 23 : Growing incidents of snatchings and attacks by bike-borne criminals have become a major concern for residents of Delhi and has led to a sense of insecurity and unease in them.

Journalist Joymala Bagchi was attacked by the snatchers on Monday evening around 6 pm at Chittaranjan Park. She was in an auto when two bike-borne robbers attacked her. They pulled her out of a moving auto-rickshaw, grabbed her phone and escaped. She was pulled out such force that she has suffered a jaw fracture and injuries in hand.

"Such incidents are getting routine. This is a problem residents of Delhi face every day. Criminals appear to have no fear of law. Delhi Police really needs to step up its efforts and be pro-actively prevent such incidents," said Priya, a resident of Sarojini Nagar.

She said incidents have been also reported from areas that were considered safe.

Delhi has witnessed 4516 snatching incidents till September this year.

On September 21, a former employee of the Cabinet Secretariat was robbed outside her house in Hari Nagar and the incident was caught in CCTV.

A day before a couple was chased at gunpoint by two men on a bike at Connaught Place while they were on their way to the New Delhi railway station.

On September 17, a cop's wife was dragged out of an autorickshaw when she tried to prevent snatchers from fleeing with her belongings near the Delhi Zoo.

A day earlier snatchers targeted a businessman outside his house and tried to rob him of his cash bag. When he resisted, they shot him dead in Jyoti Nagar. A woman who was walking with her child was robbed in the first week of September.

The criminals also appear to know the location of CCTV cameras. Bagchi was attacked and robbed in an area where there was no CCTV camera. Sujata Singh, a resident of Lakshmi Nagar, said she was worried about easy availability with weapons with criminals.

"It is really shocking how criminals brandish weapons and people are attacked," she said.

( With inputs from ANI )