Interstate gang of burglars busted in Bijnor; 3 held

BIJNOR: Three members of an interstate burglary syndicate were arrested in Bijnor with stolen gold, silver, cash, and vehicles linked to a major house theft case, police said on Monday. The arrests were made during a joint operation by Kotwali City police and the SWAT/Surveillance team after weeks of investigation.The case dates back to March 13 when Amit Agrawal, a resident of Yashoda Kunj Colony, reported that burglars had broken into his locked house and decamped with gold and silver jewellery and Rs 5 lakh cash.Based on his complaint, a case was registered and special teams were formed to nab the culprits. During the probe, police identified five suspects from Meerut and Delhi.Acting on inputs, police arrested Wasim Akram from Sarava, Vinay from Bijauli village under Kharkhauda police station in Meerut, and Arun Verma, a jeweller from Shastri Nagar under Medical police station in Meerut on Sunday. Stolen jewellery, Rs 2.48 lakh in cash, a car used in the crime and an unnumbered motorcycle were seized from their possession.During interrogation, the accused revealed that they targeted locked houses across multiple districts and states. They would first conduct surveillance of residential areas. Once they zero in at a target, they would plan their strike. After parking their vehicles outside the city, they would use motorcycles to enter localities, break the locks and steal valuables, said police.The gang would melt the stolen gold and silver into bricks with help of a jeweller to erase evidence. “The gang had executed several burglaries in different states,” said SP (City) Krishna Gopal Singh.