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Two gangs behind over 100 robberies busted in Chandigarh
Chandigarh Police recovered a country made pistol, three live cartridges, three scooters, 13 mobile phones and a knife were recovered from their possession
The district crime cell (DCC) of Chandigarh Police has busted two inter-state gangs involved in over 100 cases of snatching, robbery and burglary in the tricity, Punjab and Haryana with the arrest of five men, including two juveniles.
A country made pistol, three live cartridges, three scooters, 13 mobile phones and a knife were recovered from their possession.
While police arrested Suraj Singh, 19, of Nayagaon, Mohali, along with two juveniles, aged 14 and 17, from a check post near Botanical Garden, Khuda Lahora, the other two — Sanjay, alias Satya, 21, and Mohit, 22, both residents of Nayagaon, Mohali — were nabbed from a check post near Kali Mata temple near PGIMER light point.
Addressing a press conference, deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Vikas Sheokand said both gangs had common accomplices and connections.
He said crime was the only source of living for these accused, who had been operating for over three years.
“They used to either indulge in snatchings, gunpoint and knifepoint robberies or steal valuables from locked houses and shops by breaking their shutters using rods. They used to strike between 8 pm and 12 am after consuming drugs. The gang also stole mobile phones from PGIMER. We will soon nab their accomplices,” the DSP stated.
Police said Suraj procured the country made pistol and live cartridges from his associate in Ambala.
The scooter recovered from the gang belonged to a female Home Guard volunteer. They had stolen from it from her house in Khuda Lahora on the intervening night of July 13/14.
Mohit was previously booked for murder by Nayagaon police in 2019. One of the juveniles was arrested by Sarangpur police for sodomising a four-year-old child in March 2022.
The DSP said the gangs’ transactions over ₹10 lakh were under scrutiny. “We will investigate the money trail as one of the accused sent money to his mother,” the police official added.
Influenced by gangsters’ social media posts
As per police, all five accused were school drop-outs and influenced by social media posts related to notorious gangsters. A police official said the accused had also tagged Deepak Boxer, a gangster operating in Delhi NCR, in a social media post. Notably, one of Delhi’s most-wanted gangsters, Deepak was arrested in April this year in Mexico by their law enforcement agencies in collaboration with a two-member team of the Delhi Police’s special cell.
Boxer, who was heading gangster Jitender Mann Gogi’s gang, carried a reward of ₹3 lakh at the time of his arrest.
Police will now investigate the association of the arrested gang members with gangs operational in Delhi and Punjab.
