The Choudwar Police on Friday arrested three members, including a middleman and a goldsmith, of a gang allegedly involved in chain-snatching in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
After conducting multiple raids, police recovered 22 gold chains weighing 295.380 grams and two motorcycles from their possession yesterday.
As per reports, police have arrested 'chain snatcher' Subrat Bhata (31) of Barang, goldsmith Debasish Swain (25) of Belagachhia village in Barang area and middleman Subham Kokate (23) of Cuttack.
Addressing a presser on Friday, Cuttack DCP Prateek Singh said, "A case of chain snatching was reported in Nuapatna area on February 22. The victim was passing through the Nuapatna Madhusudan bridge with her son when some miscreants came on a motorcycle, snatched her gold chain and fled the spot. Based on the complaint, a special team began an investigation and it was found that the gang was involved in snatching gold chains in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar."
"A total of 21 cases are pending against the gang at several police stations in the Twin City. After committing the crime, Bhata used to hand over the gold chain to Kokate who was later selling it to Swain who further used to melt the gold ornaments or sell it through different channels,” informed the DCP.
Two other members of the gang, Jubulu alias Subhrasnsu and Raja, were earlier arrested in different cases, Singh added.