Six-woman gang using children to distract bus passengers arrested

Senior Police Inspector Santosh Kasabe of the crime branch said the six accused boarded the bus one by one around 1.45 pm. “Three of them carried little children. One of the accused handed over a child to the complainant travelling with his wife. The complainant asked the woman to take her child back and sit in his place comfortably.

But then, the woman and her aides engaged the elderly couple in conversations and committed theft of their gold ornaments worth Rs 10 lakhs. They got down from the bus sometime and escaped in an auto-rickshaw and a truck,” police said.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at the Bhosari MIDC police station under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 303(2) and 3(5).

During the probe, a police team analysed CCTV footage from cameras installed along the route between Bhosari and Shikrapur. The investigation revealed that the accused were present in Jategaon village in Shirur, following which a team of women police personnel laid a trap and arrested them. Gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 89,000 were recovered from their possession.

“The case was solved on March 21,” stated a press release issued by DCP (Crime) Shivaji Pawar on Monday.

Inspector Kasabe said the accused women carried children while boarding buses to deceive passengers before stealing their valuables.

“It is suspected that the accused women are involved in some similar thefts reported in the past. Further investigation is on,” he added.