Inter-state chain snatching gang busted, 3 held from Odisha, Gujarat

Indore: Dewas police on Thursday busted a notorious inter-state gang responsible for a series of sensational chain-snatching incidents. The operation led to the arrest of three accused from locations as far as Odisha and Gujarat.The gang first struck on Jan 8, targeting Rukmani Sharma in the Radhaganj area as she returned home with her grandson. This was followed by another incident on Jan 19, where Usha Navrange was robbed while going to a temple. Under the direction of SP Punit Gehlot and ASP Jaiveer Singh Bhadauria, a specialised force of 40 police personnel was divided into four teams that worked on the case for 40 days."The investigation involved utilising a vast network of community-supported CCTVs. Teams scanned over 800 CCTV feeds to trace the suspects' escape routes while tracking technical evidence that led to Ganjam (Odisha) and Surat (Gujarat)," Gehlot said.During interrogation, the gang confessed to over 50 robberies across different corners of India. Apart from the two cases in Dewas, the police traced a third robbery committed in Ratlam on Jan 18. Investigations also revealed that the gang made robbery attempts in Indore and Ujjain during their spree.The police recovered the gold looted in the three primary cases, including two gold chains, a gold pendant, two motorcycles, and mobile phones. The arrested accused were identified as Kanhu Charan Badhai (30), who was arrested from Odisha, and Dhaval Kumar Parekh (42), who was arrested from Gujarat. Parekh is a habitual offender with 24 registered cases across Gujarat, Rajasthan and MP. The third accused was identified as Rekhabai Parekh (40), who was also arrested from Surat, Gujarat.The accused are currently in custody as police continue to investigate their involvement in dozens of other cases reported nationwide.