Andhra ‘Chaddi gang’ burglaries: Police arrest 3, recover gold and silver from miscreants

In a major development, the Vijayawada police have now arrested three members of the ‘chaddi gang’ of burglars, who allegedly looted houses. The members of the gang of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are believed to have committed a series of thefts in and around the city over the past few weeks. The police have recovered gold, silver ornaments and cash from the burglars’ possession.

Burglars of the group named the ‘chaddi gang’ because of their choice of wearing only wearing briefs and a vest, while committing crimes have now been arrested in Andhra Pradesh. The Vijayawada police identified the culprits as residents of Dahod district in Gujarat. The three accused have been identified as Madiya Kanji Meda (30) and Sakra Mandod (45) from Gujarat’s Dahod district, and Kamlesh Baberia (27) from Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh. The police said that the rest of gang members involved in the crimes will be arrested soon.

Vijayawada police busts members of the 'Chaddi Gang'

“Special teams, law and order and the Central Crime Station (CCS) police, who camped in Dahod district of Gujarat conducted raids in Garbada in Gujarat and Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh and arrested three ‘Chaddi gang’ members,” the Police Commissioner said in a press conference on Friday. “The accused moved as labourers during day hours and conducted ‘recce’. They struck at the locked houses in the night by breaking the locks. They escaped by train to Ahmedabad,” the police added.

The police were able to catch the burglars after a couple of burglary attempts by the gang were caught on CCTV. The investigation team were able to nab the accused mainly from evidence and observation of modus operandi, as well as CCTV footage, related to three incidents of robberies over which complaints were received at the Vijayawada II Town, Ibrahimpatnam, and Penumaluru police station limits. According to the police, the accused arrived in Andhra Pradesh from Gujarat to in November. The police have so far seized Rs 20,000 cash, 32 gm gold, and 2.5 kg silver from the accused. The gang is believed to have committed multiple thefts in the past weeks after splitting into two different gangs. The officials also drew parallels to a similar gang was busted by the Cyberabad police back in 2019.

Image: SHUTTERSTOCK/ PTI