With GPS help, Bengaluru police nab Mr Andhra and his aide in chain snatching case

According to a police officer, the two men have been linked to at least 32 cases of chain snatching and robbery across Tirupati, Vijayawada, Kadapa, and other parts of Andhra Pradesh. In Bengaluru, they had reportedly been involved in five cases, including thefts of two motorcycles.

Interestingly, there were no missing mobile phones to track their exact whereabouts, and this made it even more challenging for the police to close in on the alleged culprits. This was because during their trips to Bengaluru, Basha and Ayub avoided carrying mobile phones as they knew the police could trace them using tower locations, according to officials.

The gold chain snatching incident, for which the men were finally arrested, occurred on March 22 in the Girinagar 3rd Main area of the city. After the incident was reported, a team under Sandeep Kumar BN, an Inspector from the Girinagar police station, was formed by Deputy Commissioner of Police P Krishnakant to nab the suspects.

The police traced the motorbike that the suspects had used to commit the March 22 crime after analysing CCTV footage by the end of that month. The team decided to attach a GPS device to the vehicle, which was parked at the Timber Yard Layout area of the city.

They knew the suspects might never return to the city and the chances of the same bike being used by them again were slim. “Most robbers who commit a crime using a stolen vehicle abandon it later. Rarely do they return to use it,” said a police officer.

After linking the GPS device with his mobile phone, Sandeep waited for a few days for it to come on. When it finally sprang to life on April 17, it got disconnected right away, but not before the team had registered that the bike was on the move. Subsequently, the investigators tracked the movement of the vehicle and waited to catch the suspects.

On April 18, the team in plain clothes went to Timber Yard Layout and managed to catch the men, as their faces matched those in the CCTV footage taken from Girinagar 3rd Main crime area.

A police officer said rather than chase the GPS signal, which kept getting disconnected every time the bike stopped, Sandeep and his team used their mind and patiently waited for the suspects to come for their two-wheeler. They finally cornered the suspects and arrested them, added the officer.