Police today claimed to have solved a dacoity case, wherein 40 kg gold ornaments of a private finance firm were looted on December 28, 2016, with the arrest of four members of an inter-state gang and a Mumbai-based jeweller.
The incident had taken place at the branch of the firm in Sangareddy district of Telangana.
"With these arrests we have also detected three other similar cases of dacoity in Telangana and at Kalaburgi city of neighbouring Karnataka," police said.
"Special police teams nabbed gang leader Lakshman Narayan Mudhang alias Bhayya, Ganesh Bhonsle alias Patil, Subhash Pandey and Vijay Kumar besides Kumar Pal Trilokchand Shah, a jeweller from Mumbai," Cyberabad Police Commissioner Sandeep Shandilya told reporters here.
The five accused were apprehended from different locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka in past few days, he said, adding, 3.5 kg gold was also recovered from their possession and efforts are on to nab the remaining accused.
On December 28, five men posing as CBI and police officials came in a black SUV and fled after looting 41.8 kg gold ornaments and Rs 91,000 cash from the branch of the finance firm under R C Puram police station area, the top cop said.
The accused told the staffers that they had caught a thief who claimed of having kept stolen gold with the branch and that they had information about "irregularities" in currency exchange in the wake of demonetisation, police said.
They got the strongroom keys from the staff, under the pretext of checking the records and collected the jewellery and before fleeing allegedly threatened the employees at gunpoint and locked them in a bathroom, the Commissioner said.
During investigations, police found that the SUV was using registration numbers of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
The Commissioner said, "Shah has been financing the accused for committing offences. He purchased the booty and offered 50 per cent of market value to them."
"The jeweller had also received stolen gold ornaments weighing about 17 kg after the dacoities at branches of the finance firm in Kalaburgi and R C Puram and had paid the accused over Rs 1.2 crore," the CP said.
Earlier, the gang was involved in dacoity at the mini branch of the finance firm at R C Puram branch on February 4, 2015 wherein 3.9 kg gold jewellery and cash of Rs 86,000 was looted besides dacoity attempt at branch under KPHB police station limits here on May 29, 2015.
Dacoity at Kalaburgi city in Karnataka took place on March 2, 2016 wherein 12 kg gold ornaments and Rs three lakh were looted.
According to police, Lakshman and others know each other
and are partners in various crimes for the past few years.
Lakshman used to identify the finance branch to be looted and conduct recce before committing the offence while Patil operates in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, police said explaining the role played by the arrested accused in the crime.
Subhash used to procure vehicles and mobilise associates. Vijay Kumar is the cousin of Lakshman who provided food, shelter and participated in the recce on his bike, police added.
