Police here claimed to have busted a gang of robbers targeting jewellery showrooms and pawnbroker shops in Tamil Nadu to fund Maoists in West Bengal and Jharkhand. The inquiry into a robbery at a jewellery shop, in which a gang of 4-5 persons decamped with 4 kg of gold ornaments here in August last year, took the Vellore police to the Maoist-dominated Maldah district in West Bengal and Sahibganj district in Jharkhand.
Sources in the District Police Office here said the inquiry into the case by police personnel led by Mohan, DSP, District Crime Branch, exposed the link between the robbers and the ultras.
“The robbers have been funding Maoists in West Bengal and Jharkhand with stolen valuables from the jewellery showrooms and pawnbroker shops in Vellore, Tirupur, Dharmapuri and Salem districts,” said a senior police officer.
The officer said police unearthed the link between three robbers — Mithun Mandal (26) of Khantor Tola in Maldah district, and Safiqul Islam (26) and Firoz Aalam (31) of Palaskatchi in Sahibganj district, Jharkhand — who were in police custody, after taking them to their hometowns to recover the stolen items. The trio was arrested along with six others in connection with a robbery case by police in Dharmapuri a month ago.