Ghaziabad: Four men, recently released from Tihar jail, were arrested for a series of burglaries targeting homes and jewellery shops in the city.According to police, the suspects regrouped after they recently walked out of Tihar, where some had been lodged in connection with theft cases. Investigators said the gang carried out multiple burglaries between Feb 1 and 5, striking residential properties and attempting to break into jewellery showrooms.A senior police officer said the first incident was reported on the night of Feb 1, when a group broke into a bungalow in Raj Nagar while the owners were away. The burglars made off with a small locker containing documents and a passport. The homeowner, Ashwani Chaudhary, found the theft on returning the following day and lodged a complaint at Kavi Nagar police station.On Feb 5, police received another complaint after seven men attempted to break into two jewellery showrooms on Ambedkar Road. Officers said the group broke the lock of one showroom around 3am and was trying to cut chain locks on the rear door of an adjacent store when neighbours noticed the activity and alerted police. The suspects fled before stealing anything, but a robbery case was registered. Later the same night, police got information about a burglary at a locked flat in SPS Apartment Society in Sahibabad. The suspects allegedly stole gold, silver and cash before escaping in a white Ertiga.ADCP Piyush Kumar Singh said CCTV footage from multiple locations, along with eyewitness accounts describing seven men, helped investigators establish that the same gang was behind the series of thefts.On Tuesday, a crime branch team arrested four suspects near an underpass close to Sahibabad railway station. They were identified as Roshan Yadav (26), Nimish Aggarwal (34), Raghu Kumar (42), and Aman Saxena (28). During questioning, Aggarwal allegedly told police that he had previously worked as a sales manager at one of the jewellery stores targeted in the break-in, but was later dismissed. He then took up a job at a jewellery showroom in Delhi, from where he allegedly stole ornaments and was jailed. While serving his sentence in Tihar, he came into contact with Raghu Kumar and other associates, police officials said. After he was recently released on bail, he allegedly failed to find work. He regrouped with his fellow inmates and planned the burglaries, police added.Investigators said the suspects admitted to attempting the jewellery shop break-in on Ambedkar Road and to burglaries in Rajnagar and Sahibabad. The stolen locker from Raj Nagar was later broken open and discarded in Vijay Nagar after no valuables were found, police said.Some gold jewellery has been recovered from the accused, and efforts are under way to trace and arrest other gang members involved in the crimes, officials added.
