Five-member interstate gang arrested

KOLHAPUR: The local crime branch on Sunday arrested an interstate gang of five robbers, who were allegedly involved in highway robbery, chain snatching and motorcycle theft in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
The police had laid a trap in the Pethvadgaon area on Sunday. Valuables worth Rs 4 lakh were seized from suspects. A total of four motorcycles, four gold chains weighing 100g in all, four cellphones and Rs 2,000 was recovered from them.
Suspects have been identified as Ganesh Ratan Navale (25) and Sandip Chandrakant Sonawane (28), both residents of Pethvadgaon, Prashant Tanaji Nanaware (28) of Nim Shirgaon, Vikash Kashinath Naik (24) of Nagaon and Arun Ramu Chavan (21) of Shiroli Pulachi.
Superintendent of police Pradeep Deshpande said, "We got a tip-off that a gang of robbers from Pethvadgaon is operating in Maharashtra and Karnataka. After confirming the details, we set a trap and arrested all the five suspects."
"During interrogation, the gang admitted to committing three highway robberies, one motorcycle theft and four chain snatchings in Kolhapur district, one motorcycle theft in Sangli district and two motorcycle thefts at Nipani in Belgavi district of Karnataka," he said.
"They were arrested earlier in connection with several crimes registered with different police stations across the district. The gang jumped into trucks, when they reduced speed on the slopes along the highway and robbed drivers at knife point," Deshpande said.