Pune: The Dighi police arrested Siddharth Jadhav (24) of Shirur in Beed district for snatching gold chains from women and men, all warkaris, during the palkhi procession of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj around 9am on Friday on Pune-Alandi Road.The Dighi police recovered 10 gold chains worth Rs9 lakh from his possession.Police said that a 60-year-old warkari from Panvel raised an alarm after Jadhav snatched his gold chain. Police personnel on bandobast duty as well as people apprehended Jadhav on the spot.“After apprehending Jadhav, we found 10 gold chains with him. We took him to the police station and waited for complaints from the people. Within a few minutes, eight women and a man walked into the police station with their complaints stating that someone snatched their gold chains taking advantage of the crowded situation. Our team showed them the recovery, and all of them identified their jewellery,” an officer from Dighi police said.“Jadhav came to Pune from Beed to snatch chains from the warkaris during the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur. We suspect that he might have snatched more chains. We are questioning him on this,” the officer said.Last year, the Pune city crime branch arrested a woman, who attempted to steal valuables of warkaris using her baby boy as a distraction in Nana Peth, where the palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj and Sant Tukaram Maharaj took a halt. The woman, according to crime branch officers, was using her child as a distraction and attempting to steal gold chains and other valuables from warkaris. The police nabbed her after receiving a tip-off and took her in for questioning her thereafter.
