A 60-year-old woman who was feeling unwell and had stepped out to get her blood pressure checked at a neighbourhood pharmacy had her gold chain snatched by two youths on an otherwise-deserted road on Saturday morning.

The woman’s screams alerted police who caught one of the two men before he could flee. The other was caught sometime later and the gold chain was recovered from him, the police said.

The incident happened around 11.40am on Saturday at the crossing of Vivekananda Road and Singhee Lane. All shops except pharmacies and spectacle stores were closed at the time and the roads were deserted because of the pandemic restrictions on the movement of public and private vehicles.

“The woman was going to a local medicine shop to get her blood pressure measured when a youth pounced on her and snatched the gold chain off her neck. He had an accomplice too,” said an officer of Girish Park police station.

Arati Sen, a resident of Tarak Pramanik Road, had shouted for help as the two youths, one of them with her gold chain weighing 11gms, started running.

Some police personnel who were posted nearby heard her and managed to get hold of one of the two youths. He was identified as Akash Gujrati, a footpath dweller who lives in the same neighbourhood. Based on Gujrati’s statement, the police found his accomplice, who had the chain.

Marketplaces are open only between 7am and 10am, following the government’s restrictions, after which roads are usually deserted except for people engaged with emergency services or those out because of an emergency.

Last year, during the lockdown, multiple gangs had targeted elderly persons who stepped out of their homes for urgent work. Cases of snatching, duping and cheating where the elderly were targeted were reported.

“It is always advisable that elderly citizens should not step out of their homes alone. They may ask their family members or a neighbour to accompany them,” said an officer in Lalbazar.

How the elderly are vulnerable:

⚫ While going to or returning from shops

⚫ While withdrawing money from an ATM

⚫ While visiting a bank

The police’s advice:

⚫ Ask a family member or a neighbour to accompany you

⚫ Do not talk to strangers even if someone tries to strike up a conversation

⚫ Avoid wearing jewellery while stepping out during restrictions when there are fewer people on the roads