Snatchers hit Delhi’s high-security Chanakyapuri. Target? Lok Sabha MP and her gold chain

R Sudha, elected from the Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha seat of Tamil Nadu, wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the incident was shocking considering that the area is considered a “high-security zone”.

A senior officer said, “A case has been registered and an investigation is underway. Multiple teams have been deployed to trace the accused and examine CCTV footage from the vicinity.”

Police are also speaking to eyewitnesses and checking for any suspicious movements reported in the area during the time of the incident. Security around Tamil Nadu Bhavan, where the MP is staying, and nearby stretches has been stepped up, officers said.

In her letter to the Home Minister, the Congress leader said she was out for a walk with another MP from the Rajya Sabha when the incident took place.

“On August 4 (Monday), another woman Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, Ms Rajathi, and I stepped out of Tamil Nadu House for a walk. Around 6.15 am to 6.20 am, when we were near the Polish Embassy’s Gate-3 and Gate-4, a man wearing a full helmet, and thereby covering his face entirely, and riding a scooter approached us from the opposite direction and snatched my gold chain and fled,” she said.

The MP alleged she suffered injuries to her neck, and her clothes were torn. She then saw a patrol vehicle and rushed to it for help. “We were advised to give a complaint in writing and approach the jurisdictional police station…,” she wrote.

“If a woman cannot walk safely in this high-priority zone in the national capital of India, where else can we feel safe and do our routine (tasks) without fearing for our limbs, lives, and valuables? Sir, I have suffered injury to my neck, lost my gold chain weighing more than 4 sovereigns, and I am highly traumatised by this criminal attack,” she added.

“I, therefore, request your good self to direct the authorities concerned to ensure the culprit is tracked down with the help of umpteen CCTVs in this ‘high-security’ zone, and arrested.”

She later lodged a complaint at the Chanakyapuri police station.

The incident sparked sharp criticism from opposition MPs.

“This is extremely unfortunate. An MP’s chain is snatched in broad daylight in a highly secured area like Chanakyapuri. What must be happening to the common public?” asked Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.

Congress MP Jebi Mather said, “This shows even women MPs are not safe under the nose of the Home Minister. What happened to ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’? It’s only a slogan.”

Union Minister S P Singh Baghel defended the Centre, saying, “The situation is much better now than before.”