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Mohali police scan 300 CCTV cameras to bust gang of car thieves
A team of Mohali police tracked down the gang’s 50-year-old kingpin in Ferozepur after scrutiny of 300 cameras from Mohali till Sodewala village in Ferozepur over eight days
A CCTV camera network spanning 215 kilometres between Mohali, Ludhiana and Ferozepur helped Sohana police bust a gang of vehicle thieves operational in Mohali.
A team of Mohali police tracked down the gang’s 50-year-old kingpin in Ferozepur after scrutiny of 300 cameras from Mohali till Sodewala village in Ferozepur over eight days.
According to the police, the gang mainly targeted old model Hyundai Verna cars.
Out of the six cars stolen by the gang from Mohali district, besides other cars from neighbouring districts, Sohana police recovered two Verna cars from the kingpin, Jagtar Singh.
After the gang of four thieves stole a Verna car parked outside a house in Sector 89 last month, Sohana police scanned over 100 cameras installed in the area to follow the gang’s escape route from Mohali. The gang reached the area in another stolen Verna car and while escaping through Rajpura, they again stole another car of the same model on the way.
“While scores of people refused to show us the CCTV footage giving endless excuses, the challenge before us was to locate the exact escape route from the area, which has multiple entry and exit points. After checking over 100 cameras, we started following the route to Banur and Rajpura. The accused in order to dodge us, also took the Ambala route, but eventually travelled to Sirhind and Sahnewal to enter Ludhiana city, where the CCTV cameras installed under the Safe City project were of great help, as we got an image of the accused from a toll plaza while driving a stolen car,” an investigator said.
The police team also had to match the actual time with the time mentioned in the CCTV cameras for correct judgment of when the gang passed the location.
The thieves, who were driving three stolen Verna cars during their escape, passed through Mullanpur Dakha and Jagraon in Ludhiana, and then the three cars split in three different directions in Harike Pattan. While one Verna drove towards Tarn Taran, another took the Patti route and the third one diverted towards Ferozepur. The gang avoided the routes where nakas were laid amid the Lok Sabha elections.
“When we reached a chowk in Ferozepur, we checked all possible exit routes. Fortunately, we reached a house in the neighbourhood of the accused. When we checked the CCTV of the neighbour’s house, we reached the key accused, who was milking cows then. The other gang members, who reached there to meet him, escaped after seeing police teams,” a cop said.
Meanwhile, inspector Jaspreet Singh, station house officer (SHO), Sohana station, who led the manhunt, along with ASI Narender Singh and constable Rajinder Singh, said they could trace the gang only with the help of the CCTV cameras asthe gang used to put their mobile phones on flight mode until their return to their hometown.
“Interestingly, we found that every third car in Sodewala village or nearby areas was a Verna car, which was stolen. The gang targeted old Vernas which were easy to sell, being in demand, as compared to the latest cars,” said ASI Narender.
The SHO added that the gang stole over 20 cars across the state, adding that efforts were underway to recover them. Mohali CIA teams are also tracking other members of the gang.
