Police bust notorious ‘Chaddi-Banian gang’ in Bhubaneswar, 11 arrested

In a major success for the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Commissionerate Police, the cops on Tuesday nabbed 11 members of the notorious ‘Chaddi-Banian Gang’ from Dhauli area in Bhubaneswar.

The police have recovered a wrench, screwdriver, axe, knife, bag, and other apparatus used by the accused for breaking into houses during robbery.

The patrolling party of Dhauli police station nabbed the group of thieves near Tarkeswar temple and Daya river while they were getting ready to commit crimes.

As per reports, from available CCTV footage of different spots, it became apparent that the gang members wore half pants/briefs and vests during the crime. They remove and keep the rest of their clothing tied to their waist and remain barefoot. They gain entry into houses by breaking open the window using house-breaking instruments. They operated between 2 AM and 4AM at night. They neither used any vehicle nor mobile phones.

For the last few months, this particular gang was involved in a series of house burglaries in Dhauli, Badagada, Laxmisagar, Airport and Air Field P.S areas and committed crimes with the same modus operandi.

As per the police, they are vagabonds and had no definite place of stay or address. They have been active in Odisha for the last year. They usually stayed as a group at Bhubaneswar Railway Station and sometimes at Cuttack and Puri railway stations. In the daytime, they wander here and there as laborers, and in the late hours of the night, they committed robberies.

Speaking about the thieves, Bhubaneswar DCP, Prateek Singh said, “They were so professional that they could loot two-three houses in a single night. They can also be termed as ‘banjara gang’ who roam in the daytime selling daily-use things while doing recce of the area and used to loot houses in the night.”