Unpaid traffic challan leads police to bust chain-snatching gang

Nagpur: A traffic challan helped the crime branch bust an interstate gold chain-snatching gang, solving seven cases and recovering a substantial amount of valuables last week. The breakthrough came when police tracked one of the gang members, Nitesh Puroshattamwar, using his girlfriend’s scooter, which had an unpaid traffic challan.
The crime branch team, led by sub-inspectors Anil Ingoley and Rahul Rote under DCP Rahul Maknikar’s supervision, arrested Nehal Malik, Avi Meshram, and Mahesh Iraskar along with Puroshattamwar.The four were involved in snatching gold chains and later disposing of them through contacts in Odisha. The police recovered substantial amounts of gold from Odisha. The gang admitted to multiple chain snatching incidents across MIDC, Sadar, Ranapratap Nagar, Ajni, Sitabuldi, Sakkardara, and Nandanvan areas within a span of 1.5 months.

The probe started after two back-to-back chain snatching cases in MIDC. Cops reviewing CCTV footage spotted the number plate of a scooter used by Puroshattamwar. They found that the scooter had an outstanding traffic challan and traced it to Puroshattamwar’s girlfriend, who owned the vehicle. Upon questioning, she provided information that led the police to Puroshattamwar.