Pune: Faraskhana police have successfully apprehended a gang involved in stealing women’s jewelry by exploiting the crowded conditions during the Ganesh festival and within Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) buses.

The arrested suspects include Vicky Krishna Mane (19), Raj Krishna Mane (23), and Krishna Ramesh Mane (44), all residents of Sarvodaya Colony in Mundhwa, along with Sudhir Nag Nath Jadhav (46) from Shastrinagar, Mundhwa, and Santosh Sharanappa Jadhav (40) from Manjari Budruk.

The police had received multiple complaints regarding the theft of gold jewelry from citizens during the festival and in public transport. Following instructions to investigate the matter, police officers Gajanan Sonune and Pravin Pasalkar acted on a tip-off received on October 8 about suspicious individuals congregating near the PMP bus station in front of Surya Hospital. Upon this information, the police apprehended five suspects.

During the investigation, it was revealed that four theft cases were linked to the suspects: three from the Faraskhana police station and one from the Yerawada police station. The police seized 102.620 grams of gold jewelry and an iron cutter that was allegedly used to cut the stolen jewelry, with a total value of ₹734,064.

This operation was carried out under the supervision of Additional Police Commissioner Pravin Kumar Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandip Singh Gill, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Nutan Pawar, alongside Senior Police Inspector Prashant Bhasme and Crime Inspector Ajit Jadhav.

The success of the operation involved the dedicated efforts of various police personnel, including Assistant Police Inspector Vaibhav Gaikwad, Police Sub-Inspector Arvind Shinde, and several constables.