BERHAMPUR: Berhampur police arrested three chain snatchers, including a woman, who had the denizens on tenterhooks for last two weeks.
The arrest led to the recovery of stolen gold ornaments which were returned to the victims at the SP’s office on Friday.
Berhampur SP Dr Saravana Vivek M said two different gangs were operating in the city. The first involved a woman-led group targeting temples while the second consisted of motorcycle-borne criminals who struck during early morning hours.
Following four snatching incidents in the first week of February in areas under Town and BN Pur police stations, a special team was formed. Through CCTV footage analysis and local intelligence, police caught Sabita Behera, also known as Parvati Nayak and Jamuna Behera and recovered two gold chains from her. She confessed to her involvement in temple thefts where her gang would target senior citizens during peak worship hours. She later revealed the identity of her gang members.
In a separate operation, two men, Rabi Das of Gandapalli village in Ganjam and Sumen Pradhan of Dasamania in Jajpur district were arrested by the police near Aska college chowk. The duo was responsible for targeting morning walkers. One gold chain and another in melted form was recovered from them.
“Further investigation is on to ascertain the involvement of the arrested persons in other cases and to nab the absconding members of the women’s gang”, the SP added.