Sambalpur: Police have arrested six women chain snatchers who were part of an inter-state gang operating across Odisha, West Bengal, and Jharkhand. The arrested women are G. Bhanumati, Deepa Das, Kalyani Das, Priya Das, S. Thara, and Puja Singh.
The gang, active for 12 years, targeted districts including Bargarh, Subarnapur, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, and others. They used forged Voter ID cards with fake names and addresses to conceal their identities.
The police seized melted gold plates (51.75 gm), Rs. 62,400 cash, mobile phones, a chain cutter, and other items. The gang’s modus operandi involved posing as sellers of stones and ornaments at festivals and crowded areas, snatching chains from women in the crowd.
The arrests followed a case registered at Khetrajpur police station, where the gang had snatched five gold chains from female devotees near Samaleswari Ghat on January 22, 2026. Police teams tracked the gang to Bhubaneswar, leading to their arrest on Wednesday (March 4).
