Cops bust ‘night patrolling’ gang targeting paper vendors, morning walkers

  • | Tuesday | 26th March, 2019

One of the gang members, Karan Gadgilwar, is behind bars after being caught by Butibori police. Nagpur: The city police crime branch rounded up 11 teenagers, including nine minors, who would go on looting sprees between 2am and 6am, targeting newspaper vendors, morning walkers, temple donation boxes, and senior citizens. “The gangs targeted newspaper vendors at RP Nagar, Matey Chowk, Subhas Nagar and adjoining areas, robbing them of cash and valuables. “The gangs had stolen bikes from rural places too like Champa in Kuhi, Butibori and also from Juni Shukrawari, Kanfade Nagar and Vidya Vihar Colony,” said PI Khandekar. One of the gang members would go around the city triple seat robbing newspaper hawkers and also elderly citizens on morning walks,” he said.Police said the gang would also steal bikes to move around in search of easy targets.

Nagpur: The city police crime branch rounded up 11 teenagers, including nine minors, who would go on looting sprees between 2am and 6am, targeting newspaper vendors, morning walkers, temple donation boxes, and senior citizens. The teens, divided into three gangs, used the code word ‘night patrolling’, which is generally used in police parlance for locality surveillance, while planning their heists.The crime branch’s special squad, under DCP Nilesh Bharne, ACP Sudhir Nandanwar and Senior PI Santosh Khandekar, detected nine thefts including half a dozen at various temples, three vehicles, and one robbery. They recovered materials worth Rs1.40 lakh. Three stolen two-wheelers, two bikes used in the crimes, and other materials were recovered from the gang members, who stayed in the localities of Shrikrishna Nagar, Manewada Ring Road, and adjoining places.DCP Bharne said at a press conference on Monday the gangs were involved in almost two dozen crimes within the limits of Rana Pratap Nagar, Bajaj Nagar and adjoining police stations, but many victims did not report the loss as the amounts were small. “The gangs targeted newspaper vendors at RP Nagar, Matey Chowk, Subhas Nagar and adjoining areas, robbing them of cash and valuables. Finally, the newspaper vendors reported the matter to CP (BK Upadhyay) who kick started the investigations,” he said.“CCTV footage helped us track down the gangs, and lay bare their modus operandi and robberies,” said Bharne. “The teens operated in three gangs, but knew each other well. One of the gang members, Karan Gadgilwar, is behind bars after being caught by Butibori police. He would soon be transferred through production warrant to other police stations,” said Bharne.APIs Prashant Choughule and Gorakh Kumbhar of crime branch Unit One said the gang members would spend the stolen money on their girlfriends, costly cigarettes, contraband substances, and even ‘kharra’. “In the past, one of the minors had even gifted his girlfriend a watch worth Rs10,000 stolen from a woman,” said API Choughule.DCP Bharne said one of the three gang members used a sharp knife to threaten and also assault his victims. “The gangs would first steal petrol for their bikes from parking spaces in residential premises. One of the gang members would go around the city triple seat robbing newspaper hawkers and also elderly citizens on morning walks,” he said.Police said the gang would also steal bikes to move around in search of easy targets. “The gangs had stolen bikes from rural places too like Champa in Kuhi, Butibori and also from Juni Shukrawari, Kanfade Nagar and Vidya Vihar Colony,” said PI Khandekar.

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