HYDERABAD: In a major catch, the Cyberabad police nabbed a notorious chain-snatcher gang from Bidar in Karnataka who were involved in 121 cases this year and 68 old cases here.
Gold ornaments weighing about 2.38 kg and worth Rs 70 lakh were recovered from them. They committed 189 offences in Cyberabad and Hyderabad.
The arrested are Taqu Ali (31) and Salman Ali (32) of Bidar and Asadulla Abu Irani (25) of Nanded. They were caught during vehicle checking by the Malkajgiri police. Six other members of the gang _ Radhe, Hussain, Nazar, Sikinder, Gulam Abbad and Mehandi _ are absconding.
Cyberabad police commissioner CV Anand lauded the efforts of a a highly-committed and technically-strong anti chain-snatching (ACS) squad including beats, patrols, interceptors and special surveillance teams, and 55 special chase-and-catch (CC) teams. Anand said Taqu Ali formed the gang in 2008. Several of them are brothers and relatives. They committed offences in various states and are known to travel often by air. Ali, who was jailed once in Bengaluru, employed different batches to commit crimes in different places.
The gangs committed offences in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh. The gang members come from different parts of the country as most of the Irani settlers reside in different parts of India and are related to each other.