Miscreants on motorcycles snatched the mobile phone of Deputy Inspector General (Law & Order) Vivek Raj Singh on Sunday morning, news agency PTI reported citing officials. The snatch happened on Mazar Road in Ulubari while Singh was out for a morning walk. Notably, Mazar Road is located near the police headquarters in central Guwahati, where Singh and other senior officials, including the Director-General of Police (DGP), work.
Several top IPS officers' official residences are also located along Mazar Road, according to the PTI report.
Guwahati Police Assistant Commissioner (Panbazar) Prithibi Rajkhowa stated, "The incident took place under the jurisdiction of Paltanbazar Police Station. We are looking into it," while refraining from providing further details.
"An officer of the Paltanbazar Police Station said they are investigating the matter and launched a manhunt to nab the mobile snatchers," she added.
Although some senior officers called the incident an "embarrassment" to the force, others remained silent, the report said. The Paltanbazar Police Station launched an investigation and a manhunt to apprehend the mobile phone snatchers.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), mobile phone theft cases in India increased significantly in 2021, with a total of 289,984 reported incidents. This represents a 10.5% increase over the previous year. Among the states, Uttar Pradesh had the most phone snatching incidents (53,205), followed by Maharashtra (38,836 cases) and Delhi (29,342 cases). Notably, the vast majority of these incidents (80.6%) took place in cities.
The NCRB data also revealed interesting trends in the thieves' timing and methods. The majority of phone snatchings (40.6%) occurred in the evening, followed by the afternoon (25.9%) and the morning (17.1%). Regarding the method of operation, 58.6% of phone snatchings involved directly taking the device from the victim's hand, 23.7% from their pocket, and 13.1% from their bag. These statistics shed light on the growing problem of mobile phone theft and emphasise the need for increased vigilance and security measures to prevent such incidents.