Lucknow: Three alleged serial thieves with a combined 93 criminal cases against them were arrested after a late-night police encounter in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, officials said on Sunday. Two of the accused suffered bullet injuries in their legs during the exchange of fire, while the third was apprehended as he tried to escape.Police said the encounter occurred in the early hours of Sunday near Pandit Purwa Mod under the Balpur police outpost area. The operation was carried out jointly by teams from Karnailganj, Parsapur and Khargupur police stations along with the Special Operations Group (SOG), following inputs about the suspects’ movement.The injured men were identified as Chunmun Chauhan alias Vishal, who was shot in the right leg, and Shiv Kumar, who sustained a bullet injury to his left leg. Both were taken to the district medical college for treatment. The third accused, Roshan Lal, was arrested while allegedly attempting to flee the spot.During the operation, police recovered what they described as a large quantity of stolen gold and silver jewellery, burglary tools, two motorcycles and three illegal country-made pistols.According to investigators, the trio was involved in the burglary of two jewellery shops at a local marketplace five days ago. Police said the accused allegedly cut through shop shutters to gain entry and tried to divert CCTV cameras before the theft. Despite the attempt, the suspects were captured on surveillance footage, which helped police identify them and build leads.Officials said the gang was also linked to multiple other theft cases reported in Khargupur and Parsapur areas and had been absconding.Police detailed the accused’s criminal histories, stating that Shiv Kumar, a resident of Sitaram Nagar in Bahraich, has 20 cases registered against him. Chunmun Chauhan, from Mallu Singh village in Bahraich, faces 27 cases. Roshan Lal, a resident of Diwanpurwa in Bahraich, has 46 cases, taking the combined total to 93.Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal said multiple teams and the SOG were deployed to trace the suspects, leading to their arrest.
