Three UP men held in Thane for chain-snatching; one of them found to be murder accused on the run

Thane, Sep 9 (PTI) Police have busted an inter-state gang of chain-snatchers operating in Maharashtra's Thane district with the arrest of three men, one of whom turned out to be a murder case accused on the run from Uttar Pradesh, an official said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone III, Kalyan) Atul Zende said the gang members were nabbed after a complaint was lodged about a chain-snatching incident that took place on September 3 in Dombivli east area of the district.

"Two men on a motorcycle snatched the gold chain of an elderly woman. Police formed two teams to investigate the case. Video footage from 106 CCTV cameras installed in the area was scanned and the motorcycle used in the crime was traced. It was found that the vehicle had been stolen from Pune," he said.

The police laid a trap at Sunil Nagar in Dombivli, and arrested three suspects, identified as Abhay Sunil Gupta (21), Abhishek Omprakash Johari (32) and Arpit alias Prashant Awadhesh Shukla (27), all residents of Uttar Pradesh.

"During the operation, we recovered a country-made rifle, four live rounds and stolen gold ornaments from them. We also seized a stolen motorcycle," the DCP said.

"The total recovery in the case amounted to Rs 3.8 lakh, including the firearm, jewellery and the vehicle. Cases were registered against the trio on the charges of theft and robbery, common intention, and also under sections of the Arms Act," he said.

"Shukla is a murder accused wanted in Uttar Pradesh. We are in touch with our counterparts in UP to gather more details," the official said.

The arrested have crimes registered against them in Thane, Pune and Uttar Pradesh, he added. PTI COR NP