Karkala, April 15, 2015 : A man wanted in connection with over 36 chain snatching cases has been arrested by the Karkala Town Police. As many as 13 gold chains stolen by him have been recovered from his house. In fact a CCTV footage that showed a chain snatching act on Peruvaje Road had helped the police in identifying the culprit.
The arrested man is Thomas (48) from Salmara. Police said Thomas always targeted women walking alone on the roadside and used to snatch their chains and escape in his bike.
It has been gathered that the CCTV camera was put up on the Peruvaje Road at the directions of TMC Chief Officer Rayappa who wanted to keep an eye on those who dumped garbage on roadside. When the CCTV clippings were observed police found a bike rider snatching the chain of a woman and escaping.
The accused Thomas is said to be a businessman. Meanwhile, locals are unhappy with the police for not releasing the photo of the chain snatcher. They say the fact that he was a relative of a politician might have refrained the police from doing so.