Pimpri-Chinchwad: A diligent team of Pimpri Chinchwad Crime Branch Unit-4 busted a vicious nexus of chain snatchers and gold jewellers operating in the Sangvi, Bhosari, and surrounding areas. In the striking action, police seized 255 grams of gold jewellery from them valued at approximately 16 lakh and 30 thousand rupees.
In this regard, police held three accused, named Anand Sunil Salunkhe alias Lohar (19), Akshay Ashok Murkute (31), and Dhiraj Gopal Gawli (31), for snatching gold chains from the necks of women going for a morning walk. Similarly, police also apprehended two accused gold jewellers, identified as Ganpat Jawaharlal Sharma (44) and Darshan Ramesh Parikh (32), who were charged with involvement in the buying and selling of this stolen jewellery. Meanwhile, another accused, Mahadev alias Mahadya alias Ajay Gautam Thorat, is at large.
The incident revolves around the cases of gold snatchings registered at Sangvi and Bhosari police stations in Pimpri Chinchwad city. Acting on the case, when the team of Crime Branch Unit 4 checked the CCTV footage from the spot, it was found that the accused in both crimes were the same. At that time, police grew suspicious of the organised illicit network of these criminals and made a plan to crack down on their increasing notorious activities.
Accordingly, police laid a trap and detained one of the accused, Anand Lohar, from Khadki. Upon thorough interrogation, Lohar confronted his involvement in illicit activities of chain snatching and bike stealing at Mahalunge police station limits with his accomplice, Mahadev Thorat. In the police interrogation, he also revealed that the stolen items were sold to Ganpat Sharma and Darshan Parikh through his accomplices, named Akshay Murkute and Dhiraj Gawli.
Acting swiftly, police apprehended two jewellers. Police said that the accused have been involved in 14 criminal activities in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Pune city limits. Out of this, 4 cases have been registered at Sangvi police station, 2 at Bhosari police station, 2 at Bhosari MIDC police station, 2 at Mahalunge police station, and one crime each at Hinjewadi, Chikhli, Vishrantwadi, and Koregaon Park police stations.
In a coordinated effort, the following law enforcement officers played crucial roles in carrying out this operation: Senior Police Inspector of Crime Branch Unit-4 Santosh Patil, Assistant Police Inspector Siddhanath Babar, Police Sub-Inspector Ganesh Raikar, Abasaheb Kirnale, Police Narayan Jadhav, Sanjay Gaware, Dada Pawar, Adinath Misal, Pravin Dale, Tushar Shete, Mohammad Ghaus Nadaf, Suresh Jaybhaye, Rohidas Ade, Vasudev Munde, Sunil Gutte, Prashant Said, Dhanaji Shinde, Govind Chavan. The operation was conducted under the guidance of Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey, Joint Commissioner of Police Dr. Sanjay Shinde, Additional Commissioner of Police Vasant Pardeshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police Crime Swapna Gore, Assistant Commissioner of Police Crime Satish Mane, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Balasaheb Kopnar
