Itching powder gang in Pune police net, 14 arrested

21/3/2018

PUNE: The city police have arrested a gang of fourteen people for various crimes, including theft using itching powder, chilli powder among other distractions. The men were also involved in a series of cases reported from various parts of the city where they approached people saying there was dirt on their clothes.

The arrest was made on the basis of information received by Mundhwa police officials on Saturday. The Mundhwa police arrested them on Sunday, when the gang was planning dacoity at a house, in their jurisdiction. They were booked and arrested in a case under Sections 399 (preparation of dacoity), 402 (assembling for purpose of committing dacoity) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), Section 4(25) of Arms Act along with Section 137(1) of Maharashtra Police Act at Mundhwa police station. A local court remanded the fourteen people to police custody till March 26.

While Reddy is from Kanchipuram and Timothy is from Chennai, rest of the members of the gang hail from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. The members were earlier a part of two separate gangs led by Chinna Kunchalla and Madhav Gogal respectively. The gang members had later joined hands to commit crimes together. In Maharashtra, the gang has cases registered against them in Mundhwa, Hadapsar, Wanowrie, Kondhwa, Chandannagar, Vimananar and Bhosari MIDC police stations in Pune city police jurisdiction along with cases in police stations under Pune rural police, Thane city and Thane rural police. They also have cases in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka among other states, according to the police.

The police recovered seven motorbikes, fourteen mobile phones, sickles, knifes, choppers, metal bullets, chilli powder, itching powder and Parle-G biscuits collectively worth Rs 4,46,440 from the gang, according to Deepak Sakore, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Zone-4.

The gang has been involved in crimes like dacoity, theft by throwing chilli or itching powder, luring people by throwing money, vandalising vehicles for robbery etc. The gang used to approach their victims saying there was dirt on the victim's clothes and fled after looting them. The dirt modus operandi was used in two cases in Pune rural police jurisdiction and two in the city. The gang has cases in Mundhwa, Hadapsar, Wanowrie, Kondhwa, Chandannagar, Vimananar, Bhosari MIDC police stations in Pune. They also have cases in Pune rural police, Thane city, Thane rural police, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka.