Inter-State Gang of Burglars Busted by Pune Crime Branch, Stolen Property Worth Rs 1.21 Crore Recovered

Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 25th February 2023: Pune police have arrested a notorious inter-state criminal gang responsible for several high-profile burglaries across India and seized valuables worth Rs 1.21 crore.

The investigation began after the gang had stolen valuables worth Rs 1 crore 21 lakh from a house in Sindh society on Baner Road on February 10. The thieves entered the house through a hall window and stole a pistol and 12 live cartridges, three high-end watches, a 4-tola gold chain, and Rs two lakh in cash. An FIR is registered in this regard with Chatushrungi Police Station.

Recognizing the seriousness of the crime, the Commissioner of Police Retesh Kumaarr and the Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Karnik instructed the Crime Branch to investigate the case. Under the guidance of Additional Police Commissioner (Crime) Ramnath Pokle, three teams of police officers and staff of the crime branch was formed.

After reviewing about 200 CCTV footages, the police discovered that the accused had used a Jaguar car with a fake number plate to commit the crime. The police tracked the car and eventually identified the four accused as Mohammad Irrfan aka Ujala aka Robin Hood from Sitamarhi district of Bihar, Sunil Yadav, Punit Yadav, and Rajesh Yadav from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Two teams of the crime branch were immediately sent to Ghaziabad to apprehend the suspects. “Mohammad Irfan alias Robin Hood was moving around in the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. Our team tracked him for eight days and finally received information about his whereabouts in Jalandhar, Punjab. The police disguised themselves as workers and laid a trap for him. They managed to arrest him on February 23 and recovered the Jaguar car used in the crime, along with the stolen pistol and gold jewelry”, informed Add CP Pokle at a press conference today.

During interrogation, Mohammad Irfan revealed that he had given the stolen watches to his friend Shamim Shaikh for sale in Mumbai. The police immediately sent a team of Crime Branch Inspector Narendra Patil to Mumbai, where they arrested Shamim Shaikh, Abrar Sheikh, and Raju Mhatre, who were selling the watches in Mumbai. They seized three valuable watches that were stolen in the Pune burglary, as well as seven watches stolen in a house burglary in Visakhapatnam.

The gang is believed to have targeted high-profile bungalows and posh societies in various states using expensive cars. Mohammad Irfan alias Ujala alias Robin Hood has been charged in 27 cases of gangsterism, arm theft, and burglary in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Punjab, Goa, and Tamil Nadu. The police investigation revealed that he often recruited different accomplices while committing crimes. Sunil Yadav, one of the suspects, has been charged in four cases, including gangsterism and murder.

The investigation team included DCP (Crime) Amol Zende, ACPs Sunil Pawar, Narayan Shirgaonkar, Police Inspector Pratap Mankar, Ganesh Mane, Ajay Waghmare, Assistant Police Inspector Vikas Jadhav, Narendra Patil, Police Sub-Inspector Mohandas Jadhav, and police personnel Vijay Gurav, Aslam Anwar, Shailesh Surve, Sayaji Chavan, Amol Awad, Saras Salvi, Harish More, Pravin Bhalchim, Rajedra Landge, Vinod Mahajan, Ashok Shelar, Sanjay Adhari, Swapnil Kauble, Dyaneshwar Mule and Vaibhav Ranpise.

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