MP: Gang of inter-state highway robbers busted; three held

The Madhya Pradesh police has arrested three members of an inter-state gang allegedly involved in highway robberies and seized cellphones worth crores from them, a senior official said.

A special team was formed after goods worth Rs 41 lakh were stolen in Tonk-Khurd area of Dewas district in July and this team, with the help of police from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra among other states, conducted raids in Pune, Mumbai, Indore and Bhopal, superintendent of police (SP) Dewas, Dr Shivdayal Singh said on Tuesday evening.

"We have arrested software engineer Ram Gade (26) resident of Beed (Maharashtra), Ankit Jhala (25) and Rohit Jhala (25) in the case and the hunt is on to nab nine more members of the gang," the SP said.

Gade was arrested from Beed, while Ankit and Rohit are nabbed from the Dewas district, he said.

Ankit and Rohit are residents of Dewas and belong to Kanjar tribe, which is usually involved highway robberies, he said.

Besides Tonk-khurd and Haatpiplya police stations in Dewas district, a dozen other theft cases were registered against them in different states, the SP said.

As many as 7,663 cellphones of a popular brand worth Rs 9.85 crore and 2,687 handsets of another company worth nearly Rs 4.98 crore were recovered, the SP said, adding that four trucks, four cars and four motorcycles worth close to Rs 1 crore were also seized.

Gade, a key member of the gang, is an expert in changing IMEI numbers of cellphones and operates his business from Indore and Mumbai, he said.

Besides major cities of India, the gang also has connections in Nepal and Bangladesh, the SP added. 

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