Six-member Maharashtra gang held

 Tirumala: Tirumala police have arrested a 6-member Maharashtra gang on Monday, which was involved in various chain snatchings including at Vendi Vakili point in Tirumala temple on July 26 and also at pilgrim amenities complex in Tirumala.

Briefing the media on Monday, the Tirumala One Town CI said that the gang entered the queue as devotees and snatched mangalasutra from a Tamil Nadu woman at Vendi Vakili. In another incident on June 17, they rob gold chain from a devotee of Hyderabad, who was sleeping in PAC 3. Theft cases were registered in the police stations.

Following the order of Tirupati SP V Harshavardhan Raju, special teams were formed to nab the thieves. With the help of CCTV footage, police traced the gang members moving suspiciously near Octopus building and took them into custody.

During interrogation, the gang confessed to having committed multiple robberies in Maharashtra and that cases were registered against them in various police stations.

Informing that 87 gram of gold ornaments were recovered from them, the CI revealed that Arjun Lakshman Masalkar (24), Bhagwan Bapu Rao Gaikwad (42), Vikas Vijay Yadav (27), Ganesh Sunil Gaikwad (30), Aakash Bhavan Gaikwad (31), and Ravi Janardhan Yadav (38) are the gang mebers.

The arrested were produced before the court, which sent them to judicial remand.