Inter-state gang of dacoits busted

The police have recovered three country-made pistols,nine live cartridges and eight swords from them. The gang members were active in Chandigarh,Punjab,Haryana,Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

A police team comprising the crime branch and the East division officials got secret information that the dacoits had assembled near the cremation ground in Darua village. They were carrying deadly weapons and were planning to commit a robbery at Khanna Sanitary in Plot No 121,Phase I,Industrial Area.

The police party conducted a raid and managed to nab 11 members of the gang,while three other members,Rajan,Raju and Laxman,managed to flee under the cover of darkness.

Those arrested have been identified as Sanjay Kumar,Indal,Rajesh Kumar alias Nathu,Dinesh Bihar,Ramakant Singh alias Sanjay Thakur,Tajendar Verma alias Happy,Subash Kalia,Sujnath,Vikas,Abid Husain and Ram Nath Singh.

The police said although all the gang members were equally involved in the crime,Happy,Dinesh Bihar and Sanjay Thakur were involved in many heinous crimes as well. Happy was booked in 36 cases of murder,robbery,dacoity and thefts and has been convicted in 31 cases so far. He has served a life term in a murder case in Ludhiana.

All the accused,hailing from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,had earlier worked as menial workers in metal factories in the region. They knew the usage of various scraps and the markets to dispose it off.

The police registered a case against the accused under Sections 399 and 402 of the Indian Penal Code last night. The accused have confessed that they had stolen 25 quintals of nickel worth about Rs 25 lakh from Avon Power Steel Factory,Phase I,Industrial Area.

The accused were produced before a local court,which remanded them to police custody.

Accused were well-versed with security systems in jail

In-charge of the crime branch,Inspector Charanjit Singh,said the accused were hardcore criminals and were well-versed with the security systems in various jails.

They would split a banana into two to conceal a mobile phone SIM card in it,before fixing it again. Thus,they managed to smuggle SIM cards to their fellow members lodged in jails. They used code language and were experts in passing information among themselves without being caught.