Modern day Ali Baba’s gang busted, four arrested
Those at large were identified as Shirajuddin, Rinku, from Lucknow and Shankar from Bahraich, read a police press note.
Lucknow police on Tuesday busted a modern day avatar of the mythical Ali Baba and his gang of 40 thieves, who marked houses during daytime reconnaissance and targeted them after dark.
The Chinhat police also arrested four gang members, history-sheeters, and are searching for three at large who were active since 2019 and made fortunes from the stolen valuables. The gang members were tracked through CCTV cameras and Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS) cameras and were arrested on Tuesday.
The accused were identified as Suraj Verma, 27, Akash Yadav, 22, Shyam Sundar, 23, and Md Shamim, 35, most of whom are residents of Lucknow’s Indira Nagar. Those at large were identified as Shirajuddin, Rinku, from Lucknow and Shankar from Bahraich, read a police press note.
“ ₹2.5 lakh and two cars were recovered from the possession of the accused which they bought over the year from stolen cash and valuables. Police also recovered jewellery including four gold biscuits,” said deputy commissioner of police, east, Shashank Singh, at a press conference.
The DCP added that the accused have a criminal history with each having six cases registered in their names in various police stations of Lucknow. The matter came to the fore when on March 17 a complaint was filed by one Rohit Kumar, informing Chinhat police of theft, prompting the police to lodge an FIR and a manhunt. “Safe city and ITMS cameras were looked into and they were traced,” said the DCP.
According to the police, they used to mark those houses which used to be shut for a few days. Once dark, they would head out in groups, barge into the houses to steal valuables and sell them later. “When asked, the accused said that they had hidden the stolen items at different places, which were recovered,” the ADCP Pankaj Singh said.