Gang of thieves busted, nine held

Nine members of the Pardi tribe of Madhya Pradesh were arrested by the police and UP STF in the PGI area here on Sunday for their alleged involvement in multiple thefts in Lucknow in the past five months.

Those arrested were Guman Singh Pardi, Mordhan Pardi, Kewal Pardi, Nageshwar Pardi, Jeetu Pardi, Santosh Pardi, all residents of Guna, Madhya Pradesh while two others – Anil Kumar Verma and Ajeet Yadav were residents of Jhansi. Verma and Yadav worked as drivers for the gang. Brijesh Rai, station officer, PGI police station, said the gang travelled around 700 km from Guna, Madhya Pradesh to Lucknow to commit crime.

He said most of the members of this tribe take up crime as their profession. The tribe was called Pindaris during the British period and members were known for their brutality in killing people while committing loot and theft. “Though some members of the tribe had graduated and started working in the mainstream of the society, most of them still remain involved in crime with little change in modus operandi,” he emphasised.

The SO said the gang now travels long distances in hired SUVs to commit crime. Their crime pattern is also old – targeting houses where window grills are installed in wooden frames. They carry along screwdrivers and wire cutters to pull out the grills within a few minutes. He said the gang also carries traditional weapons like catapult (gulel) and iron rods to attack their targets.

He said the arrested gang members confessed their involvement in at least a dozen thefts in Lucknow, Agra, Jhansi districts of UP and Datia district of MP. However, the gang was suspected to be involved in suspected more such incidents. The SO said the gang was arrested near Bhim Rao Ambedkar University below Shaheed Path when they were planning to commit another crime in the area. Two SUVs were seized. Moreover, four catapults (gulel), two wire cutters, two screwdrivers were also recovered from them, he added.