In a daylight robbery, two men on a scooter snatched a woman's bag in the east Bengaluru area of New Tippasandra on Monday, June 28. Geeta, who works as a domestic worker in the residential area of HAL 3rd stage, bordering Indiranagar, was walking on the road at around 11.30 am when the incident took place. From the CCTV footage retrieved, two men wearing masks are seen on a two-wheeler approaching the woman, they proceed to snatch her purse (not seen in the video) and ride off, while she is seen running behind them calling out for help. A complaint has been filed with the Jeevan Bima Nagar police station.
“The purse contained just the mobile phone of the woman. The verification process is underway. CCTV footage will be scanned followed by further inquiry,” said Nagarjuna, a police official at Jeevan Bima Nagar police station.
“The incident took place at around 11:30 am on Monday. Police came after the incident was reported and said that they will trace it (two-wheeler). But, the CCTV footage is very patchy and the number plate is not clear so it is doubtful whether she will get her purse back,” said Minakshi Prabhu, a resident of the street where the incident took place, and a member of I Change Indiranagar (ICN), a federation of Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) from the area.
Such incidents in and around Indiranagar have been on the rise. There have been several reports of phone snatching and other such petty crimes. In March, TNM had reported about a viral Reddit post that highlighted the incidents of two women who were attacked with a knife by a motorcyclist on successive days on 12th Main Indiranagar. “The frequency of these cases has been increasing since the last two years. We have got no clarity on any preventive action being taken by the jurisdictional police. It has made us very apprehensive,” added Minakshi.