Bhubaneswar: Commissionerate Police in Bhubaneswar has arrested four members of a gold chain snatching gang.
Police have seized 30 gold chains weighing about 400 gm, three speed bikes, two black jackets and loan documents against the snatched gold chains, police said.
The accused persons have been identified as Rocket alias Santosh Nayak (28) of Bapuji Nagar Kedarpalli Basti under Capital police station limits of Bhubaneswar; Manas alias Rasmi Ranjan Naik (31) of Dadhimachagadia under Khordha Sadar police station limits of Khordha district; Gulu alias Bulu Naik (28) of Sabar Sahi, Kalpana Flat area under Laxmisagar police station limits of Bhubaneswar; and Tiki alias Sarbeswar Gochayat (28) of Natugaon under Itamati police station limits of Nayagarh district, police added.
Police said the accused are involved in nine cases in Saheednagar police station area, three each in Nayapalli and Capital police station areas and cases in police station areas also.
Informing about the modus operandi of the gang police said, the gang has a particular and unique mode of operation and is notoriously famous ‘Black Jacket’ gang and has been active for the last six months.
The gang members wear full black jackets and use motorcycles with tampered number plates to commit crimes. They used three motorcycles Red Hunk, one black MT 15 and one KTM to snatch gold chains of women commuters on the road and abscond from the spot within moments of snatching.
After committing the crime the gang members mortgage the gold chains with different financing agencies such as Manapuram Gold Loan, IIFL, Muthoot Fincorp, Indel money and share the amount among them.
They have created a number of loan accounts in financing agencies in their name so also in the name of their mothers and wives. They repeat the same process within a time difference of 10 to 15 days. In the present case, they were arrested from Bhubaneswar, police added.
Police said they had been active for the last six months in the city and it was difficult to identify them as they wear full dress and helmet to conceal their identity. Observing the crime pattern, their movement, area of operation, CCTV records, and vehicles used, the gang could be detected with the recovery of snatched gold chains, police added.