Four criminals, including two members of an inter-state burglary gang that had cleaned out high-end smartphones and laptops worth Rs 25 lakh from a Sakchi shop on Dhanteras, have landed in the police net.
The other two are snatchers involved in a series of incidents in steel city localities like Kadma, Sonari and Bistupur in the past month. Baldev Singh, alias Billu (23), and Amandeep Singh (25), both residents of Gurunanaknagar in Golmuri, were arrested on Tuesday.
On the other hand, burglars Mantosh Chaudhury, alias Santosh (35), and Gautam Kumar Chaudhury (23), both hailing from East Champaran in Bihar, were picked up on Monday.
East Singhbhum senior superintendent of police (SSP) Anoop T. Mathew said the string of purse- and chain-snatching incidents over the last month suggested that an organised gang was at work.
"We set up a special team, headed by Kadma officer-in-charge Animesh Gupta. Acting on a tip-off that two bike-borne men were roaming suspiciously on Kadma-Sonari Link Road, the special team followed the duo and nabbed them," Mathew added.
During interrogation, Baldev and Amandeep admitted to have been involved in 20 snatchings - 15 in Kadma, three in Bistupur and two in Sonari. After their confession, a police team searched their houses in Golmuri and recovered nine stolen cellphones and two bikes.
Speaking about the two burglars, the SSP said they were part of a seven-member gang that had struck at Anil Jagnani's cellphone and laptop shop on Penar Road in Sakchi on October 28.
"The criminals fled with 60 smartphones and 20 laptops worth Rs 25 lakh. CCTV camera footage and mobile tower surveillance revealed that the burglars were from Bihar. They had put up at a Jugsalai lodge and returned to Bihar after committing the crime. We consequently arrested two of them from East Champaran," Mathew added.
They sold off the stolen smartphones and laptops to two persons, Santosh Kumar and Rup Narayan, in Motihari district in Bihar.
"A police team is trying to track down Kumar and Narayan in Motihari, which shares border with Nepal. We are also on the lookout for the others - Biru Jaiswal, Bignandra Chaudhury, Pawan Kumar Das, Vijay Kumar and Ranjit Shah," Mathew said.
