Maha: Four held, boy detained for stealing women's handbags at weddings; gold ornaments recovered

Thane, Dec 11 (PTI) With the arrest of four persons, the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police in Maharashtra on Saturday claimed to have busted an interstate gang that indulged in stealing women's handbags during marriage functions held in posh localities.

The police seized from them 300 grams of gold ornaments, six costly mobile phones and a car used in the crime, collectively worth Rs 21.04 lakh, an official said, adding that an eight-year-old boy, whom the gang members had roped in to steal the handbags, was also detained.

The gang members used to target wedding events in Mira Road locality, he said.

While three of the arrested accused hail from Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh, another one is from Uttar Pradesh, senior inspector Sanjay Hazare of Mira Road police station said.

A case involving this gang was reported on November 30, after which police checked the CCTV footage and worked on technical and intelligence inputs to crack the case. In December, five more such offences were registered in Mira Road police station limits, he said.

"The police started going through the CCTV footages of the marriage halls and studied the modus operandi of the gang members. The accused used a juvenile for carrying out the task of stealing the handbags. Apart from the boy, some other members would enter the marriage hall. They would dress well to avoid suspicion," he added.

A car would wait at the entrance of the hall with a driver to carry the accused away from the spot after the theft, he added.

"The police identified the car used in the crime. After tracing the vehicle, the accused were arrested between December 6 and 9. Around 300 grams of gold ornaments, six costly mobiles and the car used in the crime worth Rs 21.04 lakh were seized from them," Hazare said.

The four accused were identified as Babu Lakhpath Sisodia (21), Aatish Amad Sisodia (23), Nikhi Ravi Sisodia (19), all from Kadia of Rajgad in Madhya Pradesh, and Karan Mahavir Singh (23) from Agra in Uttar Pradesh, he said.

With their arrest, the police have detected eight such crimes registered at the police stations in Kashimira, Oshiwara, Santacruz, Bangurnagar and Igatpuri (Nashik), he said, adding that further information is being collected. PTI COR NP NP