INTERSTATE GANG OF SNATCHERS BUSTED BY ROPAR POLICE

Chandigarh/Ropar, February 19, 2019: In a major breakthrough, Ropar Police on Monday busted an inter-state gang allegedly involved in more than 60 cases of snatching and theft in Patiala, Khanna, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Ropar and Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh).
The gang members, who are all under-matric and hail from Patiala city, were reportedly active in these districts for the last three years.
Police has recovered more than 50 mobiles and six motorcycles from them. Baseball bats used to hit the victims have also been recovered from the accused, who had also attempted ATM robberies, which are still being probed.
Wanted by the police of these districts, all five are addicts and under 25 years of age. Among them, Gurpreet and Aniket have several case of snatching, attempt to murder and murder registered against them in district Patiala. The others arrested are Jagpreet, Amandeep and Mangal Das.
Residents of Phase 1 and 2 of Patiala City, they belong to the families of the daily wagers. Their modus operandi was to leave home on the pretext of going on religious trips to visit a Devi or Baba on motorcycles, leaving their mobiles home and committing a string of crimes before getting back to their routine lives. Once out on prowl, they used to undertake a string of snatching for a few days.
"They used to target victims late at night when the route to escape would be clear of traffic," said SSP Ropar, Swapan Sharma. "They were expert in dodging police by not carrying any mobile phones during the incidents," he added.