Mohali, March 3 -- When 54-year-old Dhanna Devi caught hold of a masked snatcher near midnight in Zirakpur last week, residents were not surprised. For them, the anganwadi worker from Shiva Enclave, Bhabat, has always stepped in when trouble surfaces. On late Friday night, Devi was returning home on foot from Babhat Road after finishing her duty at an anganwadi centre in Vikas Nagar, Mauli Jagran, Chandigarh. Near the T-Point at Dhillon Farm, two young men on a black Activa scooter approached her. Their faces were covered with cloth. Within seconds, the pillion rider tried to snatch her earrings. "I did not care about my earrings," Devi recalls. "I thought if I let them go today, they would target another woman tomorrow." Instead of panicking, she lunged forward and caught the shirt of the rider, who was wearing a helmet. At the same time, she held on tightly to the pillion rider. As the duo struggled to free themselves, their scooter lost balance and fell onto the road.Despite noticing that the men were carrying a sharp object, she refused to loosen her grip. Her screams drew passersby and nearby shopkeepers, who rushed to the spot. Together, they overpowered the two snatchers, called the police and handed them over. For Devi, however, this was not an isolated act of bravery. It was simply who she has always been. Standing 5 feet 6 inches tall, Devi was born and raised in a village in Uttarakhand. Her father worked as a labourer, and financial hardship defined much of her early life. She dreamed of becoming a police officer, but poverty forced her to give up that ambition.Married to Amar Singh, a factory worker, she built her life step by step. Today, she earns between Rs.4,000 and Rs.5,000 per month as an anganwadi worker, a job she has been doing since 2005.Devi once wanted to join the police force. "I wanted to wear the uniform," she says. Family responsibilities, however, required her to start working early, and she could not pursue that path. She took up work as an anganwadi helper and focused on raising her two children. Over the years, neighbours began turning to her during disputes or thefts in the locality. She went door to door, persuaded parents and ensured those children were enrolled in a government school," says a former neighbour, Kuldeep from Mauli Jagran. "She is strict when needed, but her heart is very soft. Many children changed their lives because of her." She also regularly helped injured children on the road and looked after the children of working parents without charging a single rupee. Around 2018, when a theft occurred at a jewellery shop in Mauli Jagran, the shopkeeper sought her help. A woman repeatedly claimed innocence, but Devi insisted on checking her properly. A nose pin was found concealed in her clothes. In another instance, during a wedding procession from Rajasthan, a woman allegedly stole a toe ring. Again, Devi stepped in. "She spoke to her like a cop," recalls the jeweller. "When Devi checks something, she does it with confidence. The stolen item was recovered. She has courage that even many men do not have."Impressed by her integrity and bravery, the jeweller later gifted gold tops at her daughter's wedding. At the anganwadi centre where she works, Devi has also intervened in cases involving children who had started consuming intoxicants. She counselled them and persuaded some to return to school. Residents describe her as someone who does not hesitate to intervene when she sees wrongdoings. Though she never joined police, Devi continues to respond to incidents in neighbourhood. "If something happens, people call me," she says. Snatching is an omnipresent menace, with opportunistic criminals lurking in both busy markets and quiet corners to prey on unsuspecting pedestrians.With rising incidents, women are considered soft targets for bike-borne miscreants seeking quick, easy gains. In 2025, Mohali reported 155 snatching cases, with police arresting 160 accused, whereas Chandigarh reported 100 snatching cases in 2025....