Sohan Rawat (24), with 26 cases registered against him, is a snatcher with a dress code. He always dons full sleeve T-shirts and shirts as well as a helmet, with his nose almost always peeping out, while out to commit thefts. The sleeves, which he never rolled up, police said, were to hide his two tattoos – a religious chant on his left hand and the initials of his name ‘SR’ on his right – his distinguishing marks.But it would be Rawat’s trademark full sleeves that would be his undoing, after he allegedly snatched the gold chain of Congress MP from Tamil Nadu, Sudha Ramakrishnan, in Chanakyapuri while she was on a morning walk with MP Rajathi Salma on Monday.Almost 48 hours after the incident, a team from the Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) of the Delhi Police arrested Rawat from Okhla in Southeast Delhi on Wednesday.The arrest comes days after he had come out of jail on bail in a motor vehicle theft case.While he was arrested in the case from Ambedkar Nagar on April 16, he was released on bail on July 27.The first time the police had noted Rawat’s clothes was last July, when the AATS (South) team had arrested him from Chirag Delhi in a snatching case.The breakthrough in the Congress MP snatching case, which was being investigated by over 70 policemen from three districts of the Capital, came when the AATS team was looking into the route Rawat had taken before and after committing the theft.Story continues below this adHe was first spotted in a CCTV camera installed at Govindpuri near Okhla around 6 am on Monday. “The footage showed he entered Chanakyapuri from Dhaula Kuan, after crossing Ashram Chowk. Earlier, he had taken the Ring Road from Kalkaji to reach Dhaula Kuan,” an officer said.The AATS team’s assumption that the accused was based in Southeast Delhi was fortified when they chalked out Rawat’s escape route. Officers said that after he snatched Ramakrishnan’s 30.9 gm of gold chain around 7 am in Chanakyapuri, he took the same route to return, with him last being recorded by CCTV cameras at Govindpuri.The AATS team then scanned the list of snatchers active in the area, and found that Rawat was the only one who donned full sleeves while out to commit thefts. “We found that he was released from jail on June 27 after he was arrested for stealing a scooter in Ambedkar Nagar,” an officer said.The police contacted Rawat’s wife, who resides at Dakshinpuri in Southeast Delhi, with the couple’s five-month-old child.Story continues below this ad“His wife said Rawat didn’t come back home after he was released on bail,” the officer said, adding that Rawat’s parents also did not know his whereabouts after they disowned him over four years ago.Following this, the police approached one of Rawat’s accomplices – also based in Dakshinpuri – who was arrested along with him last July in a snatching case. “The accomplice was unaware of Rawat’s whereabouts, but he pointed us to Rawat’s friend Piyush. When questioned, Piyush gave us Rawat’s phone number which he was using,” the officer said.The police started tracking the phone, and found that the device was active near Pushpa Bhawan on BRT Corridor early Wednesday.A team reached the spot, and found a man on the same scooter that was used during the snatching on Monday. The man was identified as Sohan Rawat, who was at the spot to sell the MP’s gold chain, said police.Story continues below this ad“He admitted to his involvement in the theft and was arrested,” said DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan.He added that the scooter was found to be stolen from Pul Prahladpur. Subsequently, four mobile phones and another scooter stolen from Nizamuddin were recovered on his instance.“Three of the phones have been linked with theft cases in Sunlight Colony, Defence Colony and Hauz Khas,” Chauhan added.During questioning, Rawat reportedly told police that it was only later that he realised that his latest victim was someone “high-profile”.Story continues below this ad“He saw the news on his phone, and realised that everyone was talking about the theft he committed. That’s when he knew that the victim was an important person,” an officer said.However, Rawat stayed put at his rented accommodation in Harikesh Nagar, as he had shifted there just six-seven days ago, said police. “He believed no one knew that he was staying there,” said the officer.The DCP said that Rawat has a habit of changing his address after he is arrested and released on bail in any case to avoid surveillance. “Previously he had resided in rented accommodation in Sangam Vihar, Chirag Delhi, Dakshin Puri, and near Nehru place flyover,” he added.The police said Rawat, who had studied up to Class 8, had separated from his wife about a year ago. “His family resides in Chirag Delhi. He used to work as a salesman and then started participating in criminal activities. Due to this, his family disowned him,” said an officer.Story continues below this adJoint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) S K Jain said, “Keeping in view the high number of cases in which Sohan is involved, the possibility of his involvement in organised crime is also being explored.”He added that soon, the police will move court seeking cancellation of his bail in several snatching cases.In the last two days, to crack the case, the police had scanned over 1,500 CCTV cameras, including 900 installed around embassies and in the vicinity of the incident, and questioned over 200 people, with a focus on those with prior criminal records, as well as snatchers recently released from jail or out on bail.