Police have busted a gang that had been snatching gold chains in Panchkula.

With the arrest of three gang members, identified as Ashish of Dhakoli, Zirakpur; Shubham Kumar of Sector 25, Panchkula, and Amit Kumar, hailing from Hisar and staying in Sector 25, Panchkula, police have solved six cases of gold chain snatching in Panchkula from 2023.

“The accused were known to each other and are addicted to drugs. To fund their addiction, they turned to snatching gold chains. The accused targeted mostly women,” said assistant commissioner of police (ACP crime) Arvind Kamboj during a media interaction on Tuesday.

Police said three of the six snatching cases were reported in November 2023. On November 24, Neeta of Sector 15 had reported that her gold chain was snatched by two motorcycle-borne persons in the area market. A case under Section 379-A (snatching) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Sector 14 police station then.

On November 19, Promila Vaid of Sector 11 had reported gold chain snatching by motorcycle-borne persons while she was returning home after an evening walk in a park. A case in this regard was registered at the Sector 5 police station.

On November 7, a Sector 21 resident Krishna Mulreja lost her gold chain to snatchers while returning home in the evening. A case was registered at the Sector 5 police station.

On December 6, Sheela Malik of Sector 25 had approached the Chandimandir police station with a complaint of chain snatching.

Earlier on June 12, Payal Asija of Sector 20 had fallen prey to the snatchers while returning home on her Honda Activa in the afternoon. Before this, the accused had targeted Anupama Seth of Sector 20 while she was returning home after an evening walk on April 2. Separate cases in this regard were registered at the Sector 20 police station.

Police said the crime branch had been investigating these cases and with the help of CCTV footage, nabbed the accused. They said the motorcycle used in the crime was registered in the name of a relative of accused Ashish.

The accused were produced before a court on Tuesday and sent to four-day police remand.