They recall how offenders from some states turn aggressive and harm them in retaliation
HYDERABAD: Remember the recent blockbuster movie ‘Theeran’, dubbed into Telugu as ‘Khakee’, in which a deputy superintendent-rank police officer and his team go to Rajasthan to nab a gang of robbers? It is no less thrilling to hear the adventures of Telangana police who have been to several states to nab notorious criminals involved in robberies, burglaries and chain-snatching offences in State.
Unless trained well, it would be tough for a policeman to deal with the criminals of certain gangs as in a recent incident in which an inspector of Tamil Nadu police was allegedly shot dead by members of the Bawaria gang at Pali in Rajasthan.
Telangana police officers, who travelled to other states and took pain to apprehend a few such gang members, recall how offenders from some states turn aggressive and tend to harm police in retaliation. One such breathtaking incident took place when a team of Rachakonda police went to Dewas city in Madhya Pradesh to catch members of the ‘Kanjarbhat’ gang which robbed cigarettes worth `4 crore on a highway near Hyderabad.
A senior police official from Rachakonda commissionerate said that only a high degree of alertness and an accurate tip-off from informers could help the police nab offenders in other states. The gangs never do wrong in their native states or at least in places near their places of living to avoid suspicion and vigil. They also have a well-established network to alert them of police movements. “The gangs too have informers who tip them off about the movements of police teams as soon as they enter their citadels,” said the officer.
“In the recent highway heist by Kanjarbhat gang, one of them risked ramming his vehicle with that of the police which was tailing him. Despite being alone, he rammed a tractor, an SUV and a bike with his car while trying to escape. It was terrifying as the tractor almost turned turtle but its heavy trolley saved us. The gangs carry knives and guns to use if police tries to catch them,” said the officer who played a key role in nabbing four members of the Kanjarbhat gang.
The teams travelled long distances by staying at petrol pumps on highways and sleeping at temples to stay incognito and to keep their movements not known to gangs on whose trail they were, he said. The are a few gangs which retaliate with deadly attacks. They include Bawaria, Parthi, Kanjarbhat, Irani and the recently-seen chaddi-banian gang from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.
A similar incident occurred when a member of ‘earphone gang’ was caught by Adibatla police.
The kingpin swung a knife to injure a cop who tried to catch him. In another incident, a team of cyber crime police from Cyberabad went to New Delhi to nab a gang which opened fire on the police before fleeing.