Kolkata robber strikes in Chennai, held in Puducherry

CHENNAI: The city police were looking for him since May after he stole a gold chain from a woman near Royapettah. They scanned through more than 1,200 hours of CCTV footage from across Chennai to track his movements. But the trail ran out in Puducherry.
After more than a month, on Monday, the Puducherry cops told their Chennai counterparts that their man had been caught trying to snatch a chain in that town.On Tuesday, the Chennai police took custody of Johnson Datta from Kolkata who was in his twenties. Police said he had turned to robbery to maintain a lavish lifestyle.
Chennai city police said they had set up a special team to track Datta after the initial complaint at Royapettah police station. All they knew was that he was wearing a red t-shirt, had a backpack and rode a two-wheeler, which later turned out to be stolen.
Additional commissioner of police, south zone, Prem Anand Sinha said, “The trail turned interesting as the man on a scooter travelled through Anna Salai, Gemini flyover, and then proceeded towards Vadapalani, Maduravoyal-Tambaram byepass road, Chengalpet, Tindivanam, Puducherry toll plaza and near a star hotel in Puducherry.”
A police team circulated the suspect’s photograph, taken from CCTV footage at one spot where he removed his helmet, to their counterparts in Puducherry. The Chennai police team also stayed in Puducherry and conducted routine checks for about a month, hoping to spot Datta. But they had to return empty-handed to Chennai.
Datta was caught red-handed by the alert locals when he tried to escape after snatching a gold chain from a woman pedestrian in Puducherry on Monday.