Gang of thieves operating as ragpickers busted

Kathmandu, December 17

Police have arrested a gang of thieves who were allegedly involved in burgling unattended houses and rented rooms in Kathmandu Valley for years.

According to Metropolitan Police Crime Division, the suspects, including professional ones and repeat offenders, had come to Kathmandu from the Indian state of Bihar, only for the purpose of theft. The arrestees are Dinesh Podar, Mukesh Kumar Podar, Ketul Podar, Chantan Podar, Siraj Podar and Bikar Podar of Bihar, India, and Raj Kumar Adhikari of Bara district. They are aged between 18 and 31 years.

MPCD said they operated in an organised way under the cloak of scrap collectors and made off with cash, jewellery and electronic gadgets. “The gang used to go to different places of the Valley in the morning and day hours to identify easy targets, carrying bags on the pretext of collecting scrap goods,” SSP Dibesh Lohani, MPCD in-charge, said.

They used to carry equipment, including iron hook, in the sack and break into unattended houses and rooms. The stolen goods were then taken to India for sale. “Many of the gang members conceded that they had purchased land and built houses in India from the money they managed by burgling houses in Kathmandu Valley,” SSP Lohani informed. Many of the arrestees have been involved in theft since the age of 11 or 12.

Of them, Mukesh Kumar was repeat offender and released on Rs 93,000 bail in a theft case last year. Similarly, Raj Kumar had faced a charge under Some Public (Crime and Punishment) Act three years ago.