Two members of a gang involved in 40 cases of burglary arrested

The police arrested two members of a gang in the wee hours of Saturday for their alleged involvement in at least 25 daytime burglaries in various residential areas

The police arrested two members of a gang in the wee hours of Saturday for their alleged involvement in at least 25 daytime burglaries in various residential areas across the city over the past four months. The police also recovered jewellery, laptops and other valuables from their possession.

HT Image

The two suspects were identified as Rajesh Thakur alias Sadhu (32), a resident of Nadia in West Bengal, and Uttam Das (22) of Hawda in Bengal. The police said they are history-sheeters and were released from Bhondsi and Uttar Pradesh jails in 2015. Acting on tip-offs, the crime team of Sector 31 arrested the duo from Chakkarpur. The gang is suspected to be involved in nearly 40 cases of burglary in the city, the police said, adding that a hunt is on to arrest two other members of the gang.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that Avnish Kumar Chaurasiya, a resident of Sector 27, had reported that he had gone out of town with family members on December 13 and found his house to be ransacked when he returned. He alleged that cash, jewellery and electronic gadgets were stolen from his house.

“We recovered leads from several CCTV footage of such crime scenes, in which the two suspects were seen scouting houses. Their modus operandi was to get inside residential areas and target houses that were locked. They would usually steal items such as cash, jewellery and laptops, which are easier to carry in bags. They would finish their operation within half an hour,” said Sangwan.

The police suspect that the suspects were aided by two more persons, who used to keep a lookout when they used to break into houses and kept them informed on mobile phones.

“During questioning, the two revealed that they carried out the burglaries, while the other two would wait outside and keep a close watch. They would also switch off their phones to avoid detection via surveillance after leaving the spot, and changed numbers,” Sangwan said.

The police said that the gang members would keep countrymade pistols with them, but they never used them in any of the cases. “They would enter in societies casually for looking for jobs and when guards stopped them, they would give fake names to get in,” said Sangwan. He added that the case has revealed lapses in the security of residential areas and the police department will issue an advisory to all residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) to strengthen their security measures.

The suspects would sell the stolen jewellery in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh to a jeweller, who would melt the jewellery and pay them. The police recovered laptops and jewellery and ornaments from their possessions.

The police said that cases are registered against the gang members at all major city police stations, and they are working on identifying more such cases.