Congress MP R Sudha wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah after a chain-snatching incident in the high-security Chanakyapuri area of the capital on Monday morning left her injured.
The Lok Sabha member from Tamil Nadu alleged that an unidentified man on a two-wheeler snatched her gold chain while she was out for a morning walk near the Poland Embassy, around 6:15 a.m. She sustained injuries to her neck in the attack.
A man wearing a full helmet and riding a Scooty approached us from the opposite direction and snatched my gold chain and fled,” Sudha wrote in her letter to the Home Minister. “As he pulled the chain from my neck, I have suffered injuries on my neck, and my churidhar also got torn in the impact.”
Sudha said she was walking with a companion when the attacker struck. The lawmaker said she was caught off guard as the rider was moving slowly and did not appear suspicious.
“I somehow managed not to fall, and both of us cried for help,” she added.
The MP, who has been staying at Tamil Nadu House for the past year, said she was left stunned because the robbery took place in the diplomatic enclave, which has heightened security round the clock.
This blatant attack on a woman, who is a Member of Parliament, in a high-security zone like Chanakyapuri which is full of embassies and protected institutions, is highly shocking to say the least,” she said.
“If a woman cannot walk safely in this high-priority zone in the national capital of India, where else can we feel safe?” she stated.
She urged the Home Minister to direct authorities to arrest the culprit swiftly. “Sir, I have suffered injury on my neck, lost my gold chain weighing more than four sovereigns, and I am highly traumatised by this criminal attack,” she said in the letter.
A senior Delhi Police official said that a case has been registered, and an investigation is underway. Efforts are on to trace the accused and CCTV footage from the vicinity is being examined.
Moreover, security has been beefed up around Tamil Nadu House and surrounding areas in light of the incident.