Ahmedabad, Oct 4 (PTI) The Gujarat Police cracked a major heist in a matter of hours, arresting four men and recovering 2.9 kg of gold worth Rs 4 crore, which was stolen from a railway station in Kheda district, officials said on Sunday.
Joint teams of the Ahmedabad Rural Police and Government Railway Police (GRP) intercepted the suspects near Viramgam within hours of the robbery on Saturday evening, they said.
A gang of robbers allegedly snatched the valuables from an employee of a jeweller, who had arrived at Nadiad railway station from Kolkata with the gold, around 5 pm. The victim chased the accused and managed to photograph their vehicle, a government release stated.
The Kheda Government Railway Police (GRP) examined CCTV footage and immediately alerted the state control room about the suspicious getaway car and its occupants.
Upon receiving the alert at around 7.30 pm, the Ahmedabad Rural Police mapped possible escape routes based on the vehicle’s registration details and mobile phone Subscriber Detail Record (SDR) data, which indicated the suspects were heading towards Banaskantha.
Acting on a tip-off from a local informant network, police located the getaway car near Viramgam in Ahmedabad district and discovered that an unnumbered vehicle was following it.
Teams from the Local Crime Branch (LCB) and Viramgam Town Police set up a roadblock using a truck to intercept the unnumbered vehicle, arresting one suspect on the spot.
During interrogation, the arrested suspect revealed that three accomplices had driven ahead in the car carrying the stolen bullion.
Police then traced the car and lured the remaining suspects into an ambush led by inspectors S A Gadhvi and Paresh Jani near Viramgam.
In a desperate bid to escape, the suspects rammed their car into Gadhvi’s police vehicle and attempted to reverse away.
Gadhvi displayed exemplary courage by grabbing the moving car’s door and was dragged for nearly 500 metres before he managed to reach inside, pull the handbrake, and bring the vehicle to a halt, the release said.
Other police personnel quickly took over the car and arrested the occupants, while another suspect who tried to flee across nearby fields was cornered and taken into custody.
The entire stolen property, weighing 2.90 kg and valued at approximately Rs 4 crore, was recovered concealed inside the car’s seat covers, while two vehicles used in the crime were seized, officials said.
Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi congratulated the teams of Ahmedabad Rural Police and Western Railway GRP for recovering 100 per cent of the stolen property within a few hours. PTI PJT ARU
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