GURUGRAM: A city court has sentenced a 19-year-old man to five years of rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on him in a year-old case of snatching .

District and sessions judge RK Sondhi, in its order on August 10, observed that convict Suraj, who is from Bagpat in UP, will further undergo simple imprisonment for a period of two years in case he failed to pay the fine.

Suraj was picked up from his house in Nathupur on May 28, 2017, after Manjit Saini filed a complaint, accusing the former of snatching his purse containing Rs 84,500.

In his statement, Saini, a resident of Rajiv Nagar, claimed he was driving home from Sikanderpur side on May 26, 2017, when he had stopped his car at a kiosk near Sahara Mall to buy cold drink.

Saini alleged as he took out his purse to pay for the cold drink, a young boy came from behind, snatched his purse, which also contained some documents, and fled towards Chakkarpur village.

Saini ran after him and raised an alarm but the thief managed to flee, taking advantage of the darkness.

Though the police managed to arrest Suraj a couple of later, they could recover only Rs 21,000 from his possession. The remaining amount, Suraj told police, he had spent in pubs and on drinks.

He was booked under Section 379A (snatching) of the IPC at Sector 29 police station.

Public prosecutor Anurag Hooda said such type of incidents were increasing day by day in the area and that the maximum punishment prescribed for the offence be awarded to the convict so as to have a deterrent effect on other like-minded people. Society’s cry for justice must be reflected in the punishment awarded, he added.

Hearing the arguments of both sides, the court observed that the prosecution had successfully proved its case with cogent and reliable evidence that the accused committed the offence and thus he was held guilty.

Recently, court awarded similar punishment — 5 years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000 — to a few criminals in snatching cases.

In June, a city court convicted Rashish (19) and Vakil (22), both residents of Silokha in Mewat district, in a case of snatching of a mobile phone from a student last year.

Earlier, a court had sentenced Nand Kishore, a resident of Sohna , to five years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him for snatching a mobile phone.

