With arrest of three persons and seizure of valuables worth Rs 42 lakh, police claimed of busting an inter-state thieves gang which was based in Raipur. The gang had executed over 40 thefts in different districts of the State including some in Madhya Pradesh, Superintendent of Police (SP), BN Meena said on Thursday.

“One of the accused who was under police scanner for a long time and was held with ornaments when he was trying to sell them a few days back,” the SP said while addressing a press conference here, adding the other valuables were recovered based on the information provided by the accused.

 The SP pointed out that busting of this gang would create a sense of security among residents of the city.

The arrested persons include the kingpin Pawan Mandal (23) resident of Housing Board Colony, Kachna, Suraj Saluja (32) of Kachna and Mithlesh aias Gaurav Soni (30) hailing from Telibandha area, Meena said.

“Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths had nabbed Pawan and Suraj from Sadar Bazaar based on a tip-off that they were trying to find buyer for some ornaments. The recovery of valuables and arrest of third member of the gang was done on the basis of information provided by the duo,” the SP mentioned.

The seized valuables include commodities including gold-silver ornaments, lED screens, oven, generator, Xerox machines, pan masala, cigarette-bidi cartons, sugarcane juicing machine, car and Tata Ace used in theft. Cash amounting to Rs 10,000 was also among the seized items.

“The gang had executed thefts in different areas of Raipur, Dhamtari, Durg, Khairagarh and also in Seoni Madhya Pradesh,” the SP mentioned adding the last theft executed by gang was reported on July 17. They have been booked under Sections 457 (house trespass at night) and 380 (Theft) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).