Surat: The Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) on Monday arrested four members of an inter-state gang that targeted money-transfer and foreign exchange offices across the country, solving seven undetected theft cases registered in cities including Chennai, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Sikandrabad and Faridabad.The accused were arrested from a hotel in the Althan area before they could strike in Surat.Police said the gang used Google to search for addresses of money-transfer and forex offices in different cities and travelled by train to execute late-night break-ins. Acting on a tip-off that the gang was staying at Hotel Althan Rooms and planning a theft at a local money-exchange office, DCB teams conducted a raid and nabbed the suspects, recovering valuables worth Rs 73,000.Those arrested were identified as Rinku Chauhan (27), Jugendra Rajput (18), Abhishek Thakur (19) and Yogesh Thakur (22), all natives of Uttar Pradesh.According to police, Chauhan was the mastermind of the gang and has 11 previous cases of house-breaking and theft registered against him. Rajput and Yogesh Thakur have two cases each in the past, while further criminal history of the remaining accused is being verified.Investigators said the gang specialised in targeting cash-heavy money-transfer outlets and forex offices in busy commercial areas and near metro stations. Their digital reconnaissance through search engines helped them identify vulnerable locations across multiple states.DCB officials said seven unsolved cases across Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh were detected following the arrests.The accused revealed that they had left Delhi by train earlier this month and on Jan 2, broke into two money-exchange offices near metro stations in Sikandrabad. They later travelled to Chennai, where they broke into JSM Forex Pvt Ltd in the Nandambakkam area and stole Rs 25,000. They subsequently returned to Delhi and were preparing for another theft when they diverted to Surat, where they were intercepted by police.During interrogation, the gang also confessed to breaking into a shop in Noida four months ago and stealing Rs 2 lakh, and to targeting a money-exchange office behind the court in Delhi’s Saket area seven months ago, from where they stole Rs 60,000. They also admitted to stealing iron rods from construction sites in Delhi and selling them for quick cash.
