Bihar: Gold worth Rs 104 crore looted by jailed jewelery thief

Bihar: A gang of 70 people, active since 2018, has managed to steal at least 180 kg of gold worth Rs 104 crore in five Hindi-speaking states in five years. If this is not noteworthy in itself, it is noteworthy that this gang is allegedly being run by a jailed jewelery thief. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the police have identified the mastermind as Subodh Kumar Singh alias Dilip Singh. Singh was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) in January 2018 with 15 kg of gold – taken from a robbery at a jewelery shop in Rupaspur police station area of Patna district. Subsequently, Singh was sent to Beur Central Jail, where he is still under trial. A resident of Chistipur village in Bihar’s Nalanda district, Singh has been conducting robberies from inside the prison for the last five years, during which his gang has taken up robberies in at least six states – West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Has been targeted. Uttarakhand. How did the police identify the gang? Although the gang was operating largely unnoticed, its existence came to light after a routine investigation into the Reliance Jewelery store robbery in November last year revealed Singh’s links with the gang. The robbers, some of whom were captured after the Dehradun robbery, later told the police about the complex network and the strict methods used by the gang to stay under the radar. Singh’s methodology revolves around minimal violence and expertise. Inspector Sandeep Kumar Singh, who interrogated the mastermind jewel thief when he was arrested in 2018, told HT, “For every robbery, there are three teams. The first commits the crime, the second transports the loot, and The third sells gold and other things.” Jewelery in Nepal and other neighboring countries.” The gang members keep in touch with Singh through Telegram to avoid location tracing. Youth recruited by Singh from jails in Bihar and West Bengal are assigned specific tasks. Police told HT that Singh paid them an advance of Rs 5-10 lakh from inside the jail. Most of the loot is sold in Nepal at 70 percent of the actual price of gold and other jewellery. Singh gets his share of the money through hawala while the rest is distributed among the gang members involved in the operation. Furthermore, Singh ensures that none of the gang members know each other before the heist and know nothing more than the specific task assigned to them. For example, for the Dehradun robbery in November, the control room was set up in Bihar’s Vaishali district – “From there, tasks would be allotted to the robbers, information related to firearms, cash, vehicles, clothes, SIM cards would be shared.” Them. The robbers present on the ground during the Dehradun robbery were in constant touch with the people at the operation centre,” Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Singh told HT. The robbery was carried out by five people, which included the main accused Prince Kumar along with Abhishek Kumar, Vikram Kumar Kushwaha, Rahul Kumar and Avinash Kumar. On the morning of 9 November, Prince, Abhishek, Rahul and Avinash entered the Reliance Jewelery store and held the employees hostage at gunpoint, instructing them to fill their bags with jewelery while Vikram Kumar waited for them in a car. Were staying. The gang made away with jewelery worth Rs 14 crore, which was later sold in Nepal. Police officials said the gang was aware of the stock coming up for sale on Dhanteras (the day when buying gold is considered auspicious) due to multiple reccees of the store. Dehradun Police learned that the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga car used in the crime was stolen from Agra in June. Other members of the gang used vehicles purchased online on the basis of fake identity cards. The police also told the publication that Singh’s work has not been hindered by the arrest so far – by the time the robbery accused are arrested, the stolen gold is already sold in Nepal and the proceeds remitted to Singh. Who then proceeds to plan. , His next robbery. “The gang rarely fails. Only once was one of five robbers caught during an attempt in Haryana’s Yamunanagar in September 2022,” SSP Singh said. Speaking to HT, Bihar Additional Director General of Police (Operations) Sushil Mansingh Khopde said Singh faces six cases in the state, including offenses under the Arms Act and other crimes like murder, forgery and attempt to murder. He also faces other cases related to gold loot in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. “As per the data available in our office, six cases were registered against him in West Bengal, four in Rajasthan, three each in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh in connection with the robbery.