KATHMANDU: Police have busted a gang of serial burglars and arrested four suspects in possession of  stolen valuables from different places of the Capital. One of them is a prison escapee.

Taking advantage of the absence of occupants, the burglars had sneaked into houses in broad day light as well as at nights and decamped with valuables including jewelleries, laptops, television sets, according to Metropolitan Police Crime Division.

The suspects --  identified as Rajan Tamang (21), Manoj Tamang (19), Phurba Sherpa (20) and Sukaman Tamang(21) – were arrested on Friday and haded over to the Metropolitan Police Range, Kathmandu for further action, the MPCD said. All of them are permanent residents of Sindhupalchok district.

Preliminary investigation showed that they had stolen properties worth 84,000 from Vivek Raj Kalika's house in Bhadrabas and worth Rs 3,90,000 from Rupa Tamang Ghimire's house in Thali last month, according to MPCD.

The gang targetted houses in Bouddha, Thali and Danchhi area for burglary, police said.

Among them, Sherpa was convicted of theft by Sindhupalchok District Court and jailed for a month. He, however, had fled the District Prison amid the chaos of April 25 earthquake, according to police.