Pune Crime Files | How a gang stealing tractors, farm equipment was busted

In the first week of August, the police arrested the three men and seized from them agricultural equipment and vehicles collectively valued at around Rs 25 lakh, including a New Holland tractor, a four-wheeler tractor trolley, a Mahindra pick-up vehicle, a solar water pump and a tractor allegedly used to carry out the thefts. The arrested accused have been identified as Jaydeep Nanasaheb Gholave, 22, Meghraj Nanasaheb Ombase, 22, and Akash Vilas Shinde, 23, all residents of Nibodi in Indapur taluka and members of local farmer families.

The unusual pattern and the lead

For farmers, such thefts were not merely a loss of property. A stolen tractor, trolley or irrigation pump can bring agricultural work to a halt, particularly during critical periods of the farming cycle. “That is why the police investigation focused on the pattern rather than treating each theft as an isolated case. We used informers, technical investigation, and scrutiny of earlier cases, which eventually helped us connect the suspects to the alleged thefts,” said an officer from the Walchandnagar police station.

“One of the farmers whose tractor trolley was stolen saw a trolley similar to the one stolen on a farm not far from his village while passing by. As the farmer reported this to us, we launched a probe. We gathered information from some local sources and found out about the suspicious movements of some people in the same area. We cross-referenced the technical leads from CCTV cameras and Call Detail Records from the area. We then zeroed in on one of the suspects, Gholave. As we traced his movements, two other suspects were identified. We arrested them in the first week of August,” the officer added.

The investigation is still underway, and the police are probing whether the three arrested men were part of a larger network. Till now, the probe has revealed that the trio had stolen farm equipment primarily from tractor trolleys in the Lakadi, Shindewadi and Bhavaninagar areas of Indapur.

An officer from the investigation team said the cases stood out because the accused were allegedly not looking for quick cash or easily disposable valuables, but for equipment with a ready market in agricultural areas. “Tractors, trolleys and irrigation pumps are expensive assets, yet they are often kept in open fields or farm sheds, making them vulnerable to theft. We believe the gang took advantage of this and targeted farms in familiar rural areas where their movements were less likely to arouse suspicion,” the officer further said.

The operation was conducted under the supervision of Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill.