Swargate Police busted a gang that was involved in more than 14 cases of housebreaking and theft, officials said on Wednesday. The police also seized gold ornaments weighing 860 grams, 150 diamond pieces, 3.5 kg silver, two illegal pistols, five live bullets, one two-wheeler and other equipment used to commit the crime, with a total worth of Rs 80 lakh.

The criminals have been identified as Ganesh Maruti Kathewade (resident of Mukhed, Nanded), Suresh Baban Pawar (resident of Balaji Nagar, Dhankawadi) and Bheem Singh Rajput (resident of Sangvi and native of Rajasthan).

The police said that while investigating the housebreaking incident that occurred on December 19, around 1,600 to 1,700 CCTV cameras were checked and some suspicious footage was obtained.

While investigating the footage, police constables Rafiq Nadaf, Shankar Sampate, Sagar Kekan and Dinesh Bhandureg received a tip-off from their informers that accused Kathewade, who had committed multiple robberies, stayed in Undri.

Accordingly, they laid a trap and arrested him on January 1. He confessed to his crime during interrogation. It also came to light that Kathewade was doing recce in various housing societies while posing as a Zomato delivery boy. Subsequently, he committed 14 housebreakings at various places in the Swargate Police Station jurisdiction.

After stealing, Kathewade used to give the valuables to Suresh Baban Pawar. Kathewade and Pawar, along with the third accused Bheem Singh Rajput who has a jewellery business, used to go to gold smiths across the city to sell the jewellery in return for cash.

Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Smartana Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 2) said, "Kathewade is a habitual offender. Against him, more than 55 cases of housebreaking, theft, vehicle theft, robberies and ATM robberies have been registered in the jurisdiction of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad commissionerates."

Talking about their modus operandi, Patil said, "To avoid getting caught on CCTV cameras, the trio used to travel about 40 to 50 km while coming to the place of burglary. Also, while going to commit the burglary and coming back after committing the crime, they used to change their clothes by wearing various jackets, hair wigs and hats to hide their identity."

"The second arrested accused, Pawar, is the former deputy sarpanch of Ambadwet in Mulshi taluka, and he has been booked for murder and attempted murder cases and is currently out on bail in an MCOCA case," she added.