3 days on, Amritsar cops yet to arrest snatchers

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 7

The police have launched a manhunt to identify and nab the suspects who snatched the purse from a female tourist while she, along with her friend, was returning to Amritsar after watching the Beating the Retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah joint check-post.

Several persons detained

The police have detained several persons for questioning. CCTV cameras of the area are also being scanned to get any clue about the suspects. We will leave no stone unturned to arrest the suspects. Swapan Sharma, Amritsar Rural police chief

The victim identified as Ganga Maya (28) of Gangtok, Sikkim, fell from an auto-rickshaw and succumbed to her injuries. The incident brought a bad name to the holy city, which is among the major tourist and religious destinations and witnesses maximum footfall of tourists not only from the country but from foreign shores also.

Even after three days, the police are still clueless about the miscreants. The police have detained several persons for questioning.

Amritsar Rural police chief Swapan Sharma said the police had detained several persons for questioning. CCTV cameras of the area were also being scanned to get any clue about the suspects. “We will leave no stone unturned to arrest the suspects,” he said.

Ganga Maya, along with her friend Atul Kumar of Agra, had come to visit the holy city. The duo had gone to witness the Beating the Retreat Ceremony at the Attari-Wagah joint check-post.

Atul told the police that while they were returning to Amritsar from Attari on an auto-rickshaw, two motorcycle-borne persons came from behind and tried to snatch her purse. While resisting the snatchers, she lost her balance and fell on the road from the auto-rickshaw. She suffered serious head injuries. The victim was taken to a private hospital from where she was referred to Amritsar hospital. Doctors declared her dead on arrival at the Amritsar hospital.

Sarabjit Singh Verka, a lawyer and human rights activist, pointed out that a majority of the snatching cases go unreported in the holy city. The actual figure of snatchings is much higher than the FIRs registered with the police.

“Actually people have lost faith in law-enforcing agencies. In most of the cases, they add incidents to the already existing FIRs in order to ‘decrease’ crime rate in the city,” Verka said.

The case

Atul Kumar told the police that while they were returning to Amritsar from Attari on an auto-rickshaw, two motorcycle-borne persons came from behind and tried to snatch her purse. While resisting the snatchers, she lost her balance and fell on the road from the auto-rickshaw. She suffered serious head injuries. The victim was taken to a private hospital from where she was referred to Amritsar hospital. Doctors declared her dead on arrival at the Amritsar hospital.