Chain snatchers get 18 months jail

PUNE: The court of judicial magistrate first class D L Bhagwat sentenced two persons to 18 months of rigorous imprisonment and fined each a sum of Rs 1,000 for snatching three gold chains of a woman on June 25, 2010.
The victim, Pallavi Gaikwad, and her family members were passing by the Nageshwar temple when the motorcycle-borne thieves, Rajendra Kamthe, 21, and Irfan Shaikh, 20, both residents of Kondhwa, snatched her chains.A passerby, Hrishikesh Kharadar, chased the accused on his bike but they fled.
The Kondhwa police had arrested Kamthe on June 30, 2010, after which his accomplice Shaikh was also arrested. The duo confessed. Police had seized 53 grams of ornaments which were converted into a bar with help from a jeweller.
Assistant public prosecutor Ashok Joshi relied on the evidence given of Gaikwad and Kharadkar for proving the guilt of the accused. Joshi pleaded to award maximum punishment to the two as offences relating to chain-snatching were on the rise.