Daltonganj: Five members of an interstate gang of burglars, which allegedly used a story to identify locked houses before breaking into them, have been arrested, police said.The arrested miscreants were identified as Raj (21) and his brother-in-law Raju (20), key accused Laxman Modi (49) from Kharsawan in Jharkhand, Pramod Soni (33), a goldsmith from Dehri-on-Sone in Bihar, who allegedly used to buy stolen metals, and Arvind (28) from Rohtas in Bihar.Sadar SDPO Rajesh Yadav said, “Raj and Raju would go door to door, claiming that they had killed a cow by mistake and were begging as penance. The story was a cover to conduct recce of houses and identify locked houses. The two used to pass on information about the locked house to their accomplices, who would break into into the locked house to steal.”After repeated incidents, Palamu SP Kapil Chaudhary asked Daltonganj town police to probe into the case. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the gang has spread its operations across Mayurbhanj in Odisha, Rohtas in Bihar, besides Palamu in Jharkhand for the past two to three years,” the SDPO added.SP Chaudhary appealed to the residents to install CCTV cameras on their premises, if possible. “Be more vigilant,” he added.A total of 80 gm of gold and 7.8 kg of silver have been recovered from the arrested accused. Pliers, screwdrivers, a slingshot, a crowbar, and an axe — used in the crime — were seized. The five were forwarded to judicial custody on Sunday. Hunt is under way to trace and arrest the other members of the gang, police added.
