2 men held for robbery days after release on bail

Mumbai police arrested Chhara gang members, including kingpin Kannubhai Solanki, for a robbery spree targeting angadias after their recent release on bail.

MUMBAI: The Waliv police on Wednesday arrested two members of the infamous Chhara gang from Gujarat including its alleged kingpin Kannubhai alias Kanhaiya Ramabhai Solanki, 35 and his accomplice Mohammad Sharif Farid Khan, 30. Both Solanki and Khan were arrested in a robbery case last year and released on bail just three days before they robbed an elderly woman in Vasai on November 28, said police. Gold ornaments and cash which the duo had hidden in an accomplice’s house have been seized, the police added.

2 men held for robbery days after release on bail

The gang, accused in at least 12 cases of robbery, is active in the Vasai-Virar region and usually targets angadias (traditional bankers who transport cash and valuables for a commission) on the Mumbai-Ahemdabad highway. “The gang would stop private buses on the road and carry out robberies at gun or knife point, kidnapping the driver and the angadia,” said a police officer.

Purnima Chaugule Shringi, deputy commissioner of police, Vasai region, said the probe into the November 28 robbery led them to Solanki and Khan.

“During investigation, we scanned footage from about 150 CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity of the spot where the woman was robbed and recovered the number plate of the bike used in the heist, which revealed that it was registered in Gujarat,” Shringi said.

A police team kept a special watch on bikes with Gujarat number plates and identified the accused as members of the Chhara gang based on a tip of from an informer. The team then travelled to Gujarat and tracked down Solanki and Khan via their mobile phone locations. The duo and two other members of the Chhara gang were sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a robbery case last year, but they were released on bail on November 25, said police.

“The accused needed money after being released from jail and so they decided to target old women,” said the police officer quoted earlier. On November 28, Solanki and Khan committed two robberies – one in Vasai and the next at Kalyan, after which they hid at an accomplice’s house in Kaman area in Vasai. When they realised that police were on the lookout for them, they fled to Gujarat, the officer added.

Solanki and Khan were produced in court on Thursday and remanded in police custody till Monday.