LUCKNOW: Police in Gorakhpur have busted a chain-snatching gang with an unusual modus operandi -- using fake snakes, scorpions and lizards to scare their victims. Thirty-six women and four men have been arrested.
Known as the 'bichhu' (scorpion) gang, its members targeted lone female travellers in buses and autos, using fear as a weapon to steal jewellery in broad daylight.
The women in the gang would board buses as ordinary passengers or engage elderly women in conversation and offer to travel with them in autos to their destination. When the opportunity arose, they would scare the victim using fake scorpions, snakes or lizards and escape with their valuables amid the confusion and panic. In some cases, they even used safety pins to pull necklaces.
After receiving continuous complaints about chain-snatching incidents in and around Gorakhpur, police nabbed the gang leader Vishnu on January 1. Following a robust interrogation, he revealed the entire network leading to the arrest of 36 women and four men hailing from 11 districts of the state’s eastern region including Jaunpur, Ballia, and Siddharthnagar.
As per police sources, the ages of the women members ranged between 20 and 50 years. Authorities are now investigating further incidents through interrogation of the accused.
Authorities said the gang’s methods were so clever that by the time the victims realised what had happened, the perpetrators had already fled. The criminal records of all accused are being investigated, and more arrests may follow.