For Chain snatching in 2020, court sentences two men to 5 yrs in jail and Rs 15 lakh fine

The two men, Zakir Irani and Sonu Jadhav, were arrested in 2020 by the Mumbai Police and were found guilty by the special court. The police claimed that on November 9, 2020, a man was on a morning walk in Malad, when the two men on a bike came close to him and tried to snatch a gold chain from his neck. The goldchain weighed 12 grams and when the man resisted the attempt, he was hit with a helmet by one of them, due to which the man fell down after which the robbers stole the chain. They also threatened him that if he follows them, they will run him over, before fleeing. The man tried to chase them and screamed, “Chor, Chor” but they managed to escape.

Subsequently, the man approached the police and filed a complaint. The police arrested Irani within a few hours after which Jadhav was arrested as well.

During the trial, special public prosecutor Jaysing Desai, submitted that the broken gold chain was recovered from Irani and other evidence pointed towards their involvement. He submitted that the requisite sanction to prosecute them under the MCOCA should be taken, claiming that they were both members of an organised crime syndicate, with Irani leading the gang.

Special Judge Mahesh K Jadhav relied on the sanction order, which included previous cases against Irani. “In all the cases, the modus operandi is the same. All the accused hit on the neck of the victim and snatched a golden chain or golden mangalsutra from their neck…The objective of their continued unlawful activities, which is prohibited by law, is undertaken jointly as members of an organised crime syndicate by using violence and by threats of violence only to acquire monetary gain,” the court said.

The court directed that their five year punishment will take in account of the period undergone in jail as undertrials since 2020.

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