In 2024, detection rate up by 87% in chain snatching cases: Vadodara police commissioner

The Vadodara city police said they have detected 208 of the 485 cases of vehicle and mobile theft in 2024, of which 150 were detected by the Crime Branch. Komar added that repeat offenders from Anand district and Rajasthan have been nabbed.

On Tuesday, the Crime Branch arrested Arvind Vyas, a resident of Lunva village in Mehsana district, for an alleged theft of 31 motorcycles, amounting to Rs 6.85 lakh in 29 cases registered across police stations in the city. According to the police, Vyas has more than 50 previous cases of vehicle theft against him in Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Surat, Dahod, and Godhra.

He added that police “successfully detected all 29 cases of murder” that took place in the city, including one of a senior citizen in Tarsali earlier this year, in which the “culprit” was arrested within 48 hours. Komar said, “The case of gang rape, which occurred (on the outskirts) during Navratri and was technically under Vadodara Rural police, was also successfully detected by the city crime branch as a part of inter-district coordination as is our duty.”

The city had not registered a single case of dacoity in 2024. “Out of the total 16 cases of robbery, all have been detected and eight were detected by the Crime Branch, including one big heist in October 2024, during the rumour mongering about thieves attacking… We also registered 43 cases of chain snatching, of which 37 have been detected, which is an 87 percent detection rate and the highest success in the state this year,” Komar said.

The city police have also detected 90 of the 236 cases of house break-ins and nabbed 168 offenders who jumped parole and furlough, including a murder convict, who was on the run for over seven years, Komar said. Komar added that four accused nabbed had been on the run for 18, 20, 21 and 23 years, respectively.