THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An inter-state gang of seven alleged burglars, who had set the police on a wild goose chase for the past three years, has been nabbed. The arrested persons have been identified as Kassim Kharami, 27; Ansar Piada, 38; Ali Sheikh, 27; Bikram Nayya, 21; Rabibul Khayal, 38; Kalam Sheikh, 35; and a woman, Maheswari Devi, 45; all of them hailing from West Bengal. They are accused of having carried out numerous daytime thefts in houses across the state, especially in the city, during the past three years. They had allegedly stolen scores of gold ornaments and large amounts of cash from the houses. City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham, addressing media persons here, said that it was a coordinated effort by the City Police, Cyber Cell and Fingerprint Bureau that made the arrests possible, despite the fact that the thieves rarely left any valid evidence in the crime scenes. The arrested persons would disguise themselves as door-to-door vendors, selling footwear, textiles and curios to search for convenient houses for carrying out theft. They also did not have any local support. All the booty was disposed of in West Bengal or Bangladesh. This made things even more difficult for the police, said the Commissioner. The gang was arrested by a police team led by Medical College Circle Inspector A Pramod Kumar and Fort Circle Inspector V Sureshkumar under the direction of the Commissioner. All of them were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody. Five more persons in the gang, including their leader, suspected to be a Bangladeshi citizen, are yet to be held in connection with the thefts. The police said that the gang, which had been operational in the state since 2008, was suspected to have carried out more than 100 thefts in the city, out of which 32 have been identified.
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