Phagwara: Police today claimed to have busted an inter-district gang of thieves by arresting its three members, including the kingpin, and recovered stolen valuables from them.
Superintendent of Police (SP), Phagwara, Parminder Singh Bhandal identified the trio as Jaspal Singh (the kingpin), Harwinder Singh and Gagandeep Singh, all residents of Majara Deengrian village.
They were arrested yesterday at a check-post at Panchhat canal bridge after the police received a tip-off about them, he said.
Bhandal said 15 mobiles, two motorcycles and one digital video recorder (DVR) were recovered from them.
They operated in Mahilpur, Mehtiana and Panchhat villages of Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts, he said.
The SP said the trio had confessed to have committed eight thefts, including stealing Rs 1.50 lakh from the house of Harbilas of their own village.
This amount and other goods are yet to be recovered, he added.
The mobiles recovered were stolen by them from a mobile shop of Prince in Panchhat village on June 12, Bhandal said.
The trio even took away the DVR of a CCTV camera to conceal their identity, he said.
The SP said their modus operandi was to threaten the victim and snatch or steal.
They were also shrewd enough for a ‘razinama’ (compromise) with the victim if their deed of theft was found out and returned the stolen goods to the party concerned on the condition that the victim will not inform the police, he said.
Bhandal said they are dropouts and are in their twenties.
A case under sections 457 (lurking house trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), 380 (theft in a dwelling house), 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property), 379 (punishment for theft) of IPC was registered against them, he said.
One of their accomplices Jatinder Kumar alias Bunty, also of Majara Deengrian village, is absconding, Bhandal siad.
—PTI