As many as eight persons have been arrested on charges of theft of LPG gas cylinders worth Rs 6.44 lakh and selling them here, police said today.
Four persons were arrested in this connection on December 4, while four others, who were involved in purchase of the stolen cylinders, were nabbed from different areas of Thane on Friday and Saturday, Bhiwandi Police Crime unit sub-inspector, Ravindra Doiphode said.
As many as 152 LPG gas cylinders of companies Bharat Gas, Hindustan Petroleum and a four-wheeler van, worth Rs 6.44 lakh was recovered from the accused, the officer said.
A gang of four accused had carried out a theft between April 16 and 17 this year at the godown of Bharat Petroleum in Kalyan and stolen 68 gas cylinders worth Rs 1.60 lakh. They also broke the CCTV camera installed in the godown, he said.
A case was booked in this regard under relevant IPC sections by the Manpada Police.
During the course of investigation, Crime Branch officials received a tip off that a gang involved in theft of gas cylinders will be around Mumbra station here, following which a trap was laid on December 4 and they were held.
The four persons were identified as -- Jalal Khan, 45, Zahir Khan, 32, Sayeed Ahmed, 19, and Rajesh Dhanavade, 28, he said.
The officer apprised that the gang operated in and around Thane. Jalal, who lead the gang, has as many as 12 offences lodged against him.
The accused confessed to their crime of carrying out theft in Manpada and Kalyan taluka and revealed the names of purchasers of the stolen gas cylinders.
Based on the information of the accused, police arrested the purchasers from different areas of Thane in the last two days.
They were identified as -- Atik Ansari, Sudhakar Nadar, Abdul Khalil Chudhary, and Dharmendra Agrahari.
