Cops bust gang that targeted BEST commuters

The D N Nagar police have busted a gang of eight members, who would divert BEST bus commuters' attention, before looting them. Their most recent target was a 37-year-old jeweller travelling by bus from Lokhandwala to Andheri station.

The incident occurred on April 19 when the complainant, Anand Ratan Singh Sancheti, who lives in MHADA colony in Andheri (W), boarded the bus at Lokhanwala. The gang also boarded the already crowded bus there and, soon enough, they figured that Sancheti was carrying diamonds. Some members surrounded him, while the others distracted him. Before Sancheti understood what was happening, the accused had taken his bag and got down from the bus.

Sancheti then approached the DN Nagar police and lodged a complaint. A police team went to the Andheri and Goregaon bus depots to check the CCTV footage and get clues on the accused. However, they found out that the depots had recordings of only three days. The team then went to the Colaba bus depot and got the recording from there.

After this, the police, aided by their informants, traced each of the accused. It was then found that the gang have similar cases registered against them with the Bhandup, Kurla and Dharavi police stations and have confessed to using the same modus operandi in crowded trains.

"We are in the process of finding out if the accused have committed any such similar offences in the past. One of the accused, identified as Mohammed Rafiq, has three cases registered against him. The accused were produced in court and have been remanded to police custody," said Rajendra Chavan, senior inspector of DN Nagar police station.