The arrested are Madiya Bhuriya (40) son of Hasu, Ushan Bilal (38) son of Bheelu Bilal, Mohan Singh alias Munsa (30) son of Sur Singh, Amar Singh alias Amjat (28) son of Singh, Sardar (20) son of Ratan Singh, Madan (32) son of Juvan Singh, and Bahubali (50) son of Kalu, all belonging to Bhil and Bhuriya tribes in Dhar district.
Mr Goyal told media persons on Friday that as per their modus operandi, the dacoits hired vehicles along with drivers from their district, drove all the way to different states, and targeted jewellery stores at locations, after observing them for a couple of days.
The gang had pulled off heists in every place they visited, and have been operating in various districts like Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, he said.
They would mainly target silver jewellery stores, and after the heists, would dispose the stolen items by selling them to a receiver Vijay Kumar Soni (50) in Dhar district, who was also among those arrested. The team of police personnel was able to identify and capture the thieves based on videos captured on CCTV cameras, he said.
Mr Goyal said that the first member of the gang was arrested on October 4, in Punjalkatte, which gave them information on the gang of dacoits operating in the area. Based on video footages from CCTV from the Nethravati bridge toll gate in Belthangady and also one in Dharmasthala, the team was able to identify them as the ones having robbed Suresh Baliga Jewellery in Bantwal town station limits, Anugraha Jewellery in Mulki station limits, Deepa Jewellery in Udupi district and Savitri Jwellery in Punjalkatte station limits.
The arrested are hardened criminals, who would not hesitate to use physical violence if required. They would carry iron rods along with them during the robberies to ensure they left no witnesses behind, said Goyal. "Bows and several sharp iron-tipped arrows were also seized by the police," he said.
Around 3.5 kilograms of silver stolen from Savitri Jewellery and 10 kilograms stolen from Baliga Jewwllery was recovered. The investigation was led by Puttur Sub-division ASP Anuchet, and included Belthangady Circle Inspector N G Bhaskar Rai, Punjalkatte Station Inspector Jayanand K and Bantwal town station inspector Nagesh K. Devappa Lawrence, Abdul Latheef, PC Ibrahim, PC Praveen, Venkatappa, Shivananda and Bharati from Punjalkatte station, Praveen, Harish and Savita from Belthangady station, Taranath, Kanakaraj and Rohinath from Venur station, and Krishna, Ramesh, driver Vijayeshwar, B N Budki and Mohammed Asif from Bantwal town station, assisted in the investigation, said Mr Goyal.
The police team have also taken into custody a Mahindra Xylo, hired from Madhya Pradesh, which was captured on video by the Netravathi toll gate CCTV camera. One driver has also been arrested as an accomplice of the gang. However, the owner of the hired vehicle traced back to Madhya Pradesh, is not involved in their operations. As the CCTV cameras were helpful in identifying and confirming the accused in the four heists, SP Goyal advised that they should be installed in various locations such as temples, toll gates and jewellery stores in the district.
The taxi owner and the Bhopal police have also been helpful in the police investigation, he added.
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