‘Traumatised’: Congress MP R Sudha’s gold chain snatched in high-security area of Delhi

Lok Sabha MP from Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, R. Sudha, became a victim of chain-snatching as a bike-borne miscreant tugged at her gold chain and sped away in the diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri, the Delhi Police said on Monday. Sudha was on a morning walk with DMK Rajya Sabha member Rajathi Salma outside the Polish Embassy in Chanakyapuri, which houses several embassies and official residences of state governments, when she was robbed of her gold chain.

In a letter to the Union Home Ministry, the Congress MP, who is in Delhi to attend Parliament’s Monsoon Session, wrote, “Around 6.15 in the morning, when we were near the Poland Embassy’s Gate-3 and Gate-4, a masked man wearing a helmet and riding a scooter approached us from the opposite direction and snatched my gold chain and fled.”

“As he was coming slowly in the opposite direction, I did not suspect that he could be a chain-snatcher. After he pulled the chain from my neck, I suffered injuries on my neck,” she added.

She further states in the letter, “If a woman cannot walk safely in this high-priority zone in the national capital of India, where else can we feel safe and do our routine without fearing for our limbs, lives, and valuables?”

“Sir, this blatant attack on a woman, who is a Member of the Parliament, in a high-security zone like Chanakyapuri, which is full of embassies and protected institutions, is highly shocking to say the least. I am highly traumatised by this criminal attack,” she said.

A senior police officer confirmed the incident and said, “The incident took place near the Poland Embassy in Chanakyapuri at around 6 am, where the suspect on a scooter slowed down near the Congress MP.”

“At that moment, the accused snatched her chain and fled the spot immediately after committing the crime. Sudha shouted for help, but no bystanders came forward. Another member of parliament from Tamil Nadu was accompanying her at the time,” police said in a statement.

A case has been registered under the relevant sections, and an investigation is underway. Efforts are on to trace the accused, and CCTV footage from the vicinity is being examined, said a senior Delhi Police official.

Multiple police teams have been deployed to track down the accused, but the police have so far not made any arrests in the case.