Sec 304 of BNS likely to curb rising chain, mobile snatching incidents

Indore: Section 304 of the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which is dedicated to snatching will help curb the increasing number of chain and mobile snatching incidents in Indore which were earlier registered by combining two sections of the prevailing IPC or under robbery. Section 304 of BNS deals specifically with snatching.
The offence of ‘snatching’ has been introduced in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Till now, the offense of snatching was not present in the IPC, 1860, which led to a lot of discretion to police to either treat such cases as ‘theft’ or ‘robbery’.
“The investigations have been broadened and have been approved by the electronic board. Snatchings were earlier registered under theft but now it is defined that if any force is used or harm caused, it will be registered under snatching. Police officials used to also register snatchings under robbery but since they have dedicated sections for chain and mobile snatchings, it will be beneficial,” said high court advocate Vinay Puranik.
He added that earlier theft under IPC was compoundable (the parties involved can effect a compromise while the case is under trial in the court) but snatching under BNS is non compoundable offenses and under it the court proceedings continue even if the victim and the accused reach a settlement privately.
Puranik added that if while committing ‘snatching’ the accused hurt the victim, police can book him under a combination section 307 for theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to commit theft which will increase the punishment and imprisonment.
Similarly, he said that if a victim died while the snatching was being committed, the accused could be booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
“Earlier it was difficult for police to establish electronic evidence but now CDR, footage, mobile records of people recording or corroborating evidence will be easily admissible in court,” said Puranik.
Talking to TOI, Indore police commissioner Rakesh Gupta said, "There was ambiguity in the law regarding how officers categorized snatching incidents, often registering them as either theft or robbery based on their own judgment. This inconsistency made it challenging to analyze crime patterns. With the introduction of a dedicated section for snatching, we can now better analyze these incidents and take stricter actions."
He further explained that they had to answer to their superiors when cases previously registered as theft were suddenly categorized as robbery, leading to a noticeable spike in robbery statistics.
Snatching defined in BNS
According to section 304 (1) of the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, any theft is snatching if, in order to commit the theft, the offender suddenly or quickly or forcibly seizes or secures or grabs or takes away from any person or from his possession any movable property. Subsection (2) of 304 mentions that whoever commits snatching shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to a fine.
The offense is cognizable, non bailable, non compoundable and triable by a magistrate.