Mobile Snatchers Strike Twice, Flee Before Victims Can React In Bhopal

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Mobile snatchers struck twice in different parts of the city, targeting a college student and a pedestrian in separate incidents, police said on Thursday. Police have registered cases and launched a search for the unidentified accused with the help of CCTV footage and descriptions provided by the victims.

In the first incident, 19-year-old college student Vinayak Tiwari, a native of Vidisha who lives in a rented room in Chandbad, was robbed in the Ashoka Garden area on Monday night.

According to police, Vinayak was walking from Ashok Vihar towards the local vegetable market around 9 pm while talking on his mobile phone.

Near a house in Ashok Vihar Colony, two youths on a scooter stopped and asked him for an address. Before he could understand their query, the pillion rider snatched the phone from his hand and the duo sped away.

Shocked by the sudden incident, Vinayak could not note the scooter's registration number. He reported the matter to Ashoka Garden police the next day. The stolen mobile phone is valued at around Rs 12,000.

In another case under the Chhola Mandu police station limits, 45-year-old Sanjeev Kumar was robbed of his mobile phone near the Gimar Valley Bypass late at night. Police said Sanjeev was walking along the bypass road around 10 pm when two motorcycle-borne miscreants approached, snatched his phone, and fled before he could react.

Sanjeev immediately lodged a complaint with the police. The stolen handset is estimated to be worth Rs 10,000.

Police officials said efforts are underway to identify and trace the accused in both cases by examining CCTV footage from nearby areas and gathering additional evidence.