CCTV footage helps nab chain snatchers

Chennai: The Chintadripet police on Sunday arrested two men for two separate robberies and seized stolen valuables including a two-wheeler. After a team led by crime wing inspector Padmavathi nabbed Vignesh and Pradeep with the help of CCTV camera footage, a court sent them to jail.
In the first incident, a police officer said, Kannagi Nagar resident Vignesh, who was on a bike, on May 5 snatched a mobile phone from a woman named Suryah who was walking on a road in Chintadripet talking to a relative over phone. While Vignesh rode away before the woman could raise an alarm, Suryah lodged a complaint. A case was registered and a search was launched. A team collected CCTV camera footage from the traffic junction at Periyar statue and nearby showrooms.
Egmore assistant commissioner Subramani said, “We assigned a special team to track the movement of the suspect watching the camera footage.”
After Suryah helped a police artist recreate and draw the portrait of the suspect, members of the special team traced the registration number of the bike he used to escape after committing the crime. The registration number TN 07 CK 7060 of the Pulsar 220 was initially traced to a man named Velu of Saligramam. When questioned, Velu told police that he had recently sold the two-wheeler through a private financing firm in his neighbourhood. Further inquiries revealed that the vehicle was sold to Prathyush Bikes on Bells Road in Chepauk and the police team nabbed Vignesh from a hideout at Kannagi Nagar.
The sets of fingerprints collected from Vignesh were sent to the state crime records bureau where experts on analysis found that he had been involved in a few more cases of robbery, one of murder, and a few cases of theft in the city. Four stolen mobile phones and the motor bike Vignesh used to rob the woman were seized, the officer said.
The second arrest was of Pradeep, one of two men who had on April 21 snatched cash and valuables from a soft drinks shop on Singanna Chetty Street in Chintadripet after attacking its manager Suresh, the officer said. Later, the two men threatened an armed reserve police constable while fleeing with the booty. After apprehending Pradeep, 22, from a hideout, police launched a search for his accomplice.