First conviction under Sec 379A in Haryana: Gurgaon smartphone snatcher gets 5-year jail

In October 2015, Haryana government added clauses 379A and 379B to section 379 (punishment for theft) of the IPC in an attempt to make the law against snatching harsher. According to 379A (snatching) of IPC, the convict will be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than five years along with a fine of Rs 25,000.

Additional District Judge Vivek Singhal convicted and sentenced the accused Vicky Kalonia, a resident of Najafgarh, Thursday for snatching the smartphone of Abhishek Rai, who works with a technology firm in Gurgaon, on December 30 last year. The court relied on police investigation to convict the Kalonia even as Rai turned hostile and refused to identify the accused before the court.

“The complainant did not support the prosecution in the court. He even denied that Kalonia had robbed him of the smartphone. Additional Sessions Judge Vivek Singhal relied on the evidence police produced to convict Kalonia under Section 379A of IPC. The verdict in the case sends out a stern warning to miscreants,” said Sharma.

Gurgaon Police Commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk said, “Ensuring conviction of the accused and that too in a record time would certainly deter criminals for committing crime of snatching. And now there is a sentence from 5 to 10 years under the new law.”

On December 30 last year, Rai was standing at IFFCO Chowk around 9 pm and making a call. A motorcyclist snatched his mobile phone and tried to escape. However, the accused got caught in a traffic jam and Rai managed to catch hold of him. The motorcyclist disclosed his name as Vicky. Rai then called up the Police Control Room and handed over the accused to the police. The phone was recovered from Kalonia at the spot, said police sources. The FIR was registered at Sector 29 police station.

Gurgaon police registered over 300 cases of snatching in 2015. After introduction of section 379A, Gurgaon police registered 62 cases between October and December 2015; and 69 cases between January and March 2016. In 2013, Gurgaon police had recorded a total of 226 cases, while 282 cases were registered in 2012.