Police to probe Mumbai connection

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">PUNE: After failing to make a breakthrough in the series of attacks on senior citizens and chain-snatching incidents in the city, the police are now probing the "Mumbai angle".<br /><br />A four-member police team will leave for Mumbai on Monday to check the records of certain criminals there, police sources said.The city police have questioned a number of suspects in the last few days in connection with the incidents, but have not managed to solve the cases.<br /><br />Checking the past records of criminals, staging dummy victims and changing patrolling pattern have yielded no results. The police have even stepped up patrolling in crime-prone areas and increased staff at police stations, under whose jurisdiction the crimes took place, the sources said.<br /><br />"The cases registered in Mumbai show the same modus operandi adopted here and, therefore, we will be looking for clues there," the sources said, adding that the descriptions of the suspects matched with some of the known criminals in Mumbai.<br /><br />The police are also concentrating on the fact that most of the crimes have been committed in Nigdi and Sahakarnagar areas,which have easy access to Mumbai through the highways. Nearly 19 cases of attacks and looting of senior citizens have taken place in the city since last November. This excludes the chain snatching incidents. Two weeks ago, a special team was formed under police inspector Chandrakant Godke to solve the cases. <br /><br />A prize of Rs 20,000 has been announced for those who help in solving the cases. If preliminary investigations provide encouraging results, senior officials of the rank of police inspector or assistant commissioner of police will be sent to Mumbai for further investigations, the sources added.<br /><br /><formid=526372></formid=526372></div> </div>