Irani gang involved in 60 criminal cases arrested

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) recently arrested an Irani gang suspected to be involved in 60 criminal cases in the City and other parts of the country, while it was allegedly attempting to rob a woman in Vijayanagar.

According to police, the arrested are identified as Lala Sameer Jaffer Hussain alias Lala (35), Gulam Ali Faruvali Syed (26) and Jafar Ali Syed (31), all residents of Thane in Maharashtra, Usman (32) and Abbas Ali (28), both residents of Gulbarga.

The police have recovered gold ornaments weighing 2.1 kg, a four-wheeler and one bike, which was used to commit crimes. Lala is said to be the kingpin of the gang and is one of the most wanted criminals across the country.

The arrested persons told the police that their modus operandi was to target elderly and lonely women on ring roads and other deserted locations, and to rob them off their gold jewellery by diverting their attention.

Sometimes, they used to impersonate police officers and warn the victims not to don jewellery as they would be robbed by miscreants.

A police officer said that in the guise of helping the women, they used to demonstrate how to wrap gold ornaments in a paper cover, and then by diverting their attention, they used to replace the first cover with a similar cover and slip it to the victim.

The victim would realise she was robbed only after she opened the cover, added the officer.

“They used to target five to eight women in a day and thereafter, they used to flee to Mumbai to avoid arrest. Further investigation is on to find out if they are involved in any other criminal activities.” said the officer.