Ranchi: Ranchi Police have busted an organised chain-snatching gang responsible for a series of incidents across the city, arresting two persons, including an active gang member and a jeweller accused of purchasing stolen ornaments. Around 19 grams of melted gold and two stolen two-wheelers were recovered during the operation.
Senior Superintendent of Police had received specific information on July 23 that some criminals riding a stolen two-wheeler were heading towards Namkum. Acting on the tip-off, a vehicle checking drive was launched near the Railway Flyover under the leadership of the Namkum police station in-charge.
At around 5 p.m., police spotted a suspicious man riding a Hero Passion Pro motorcycle. When signalled to stop, he attempted to flee but was overpowered by the police.
The accused was identified as 30-year-old Saddam Ansari, a resident of BIT Sirtanagar. During verification, the motorcycle was found to be stolen from the Patratu area, and its chassis number had been tampered with to conceal its identity.
During interrogation, Saddam confessed that the stolen bike was used to snatch gold chains from women in different parts of Ranchi. Based on his disclosure, police also recovered a stolen TVS Scooty from his residence.
The accused admitted his involvement in several chain-snatching incidents, including one near Namkum Railway Station in March 2026, another at Arsande in Kanke and near Women’s Inter College in Lalpur in April, and one near a temple on Harihar Singh Road in Bariatu in June.
He further revealed that the stolen gold ornaments were sold at throwaway prices to Ramesh Prasad Swarnkar (38), owner of Verma Jewellers at BIT Mesra Chowk, for around Rs 4 lakh.
Acting on the information, police raided the jewellery shop and recovered nearly 19 grams of melted gold. Ramesh Prasad Swarnkar was also arrested for allegedly purchasing the stolen ornaments.
Police said the investigation has revealed the involvement of an organised chain-snatching racket that used stolen vehicles to commit crimes and disposed of the looted jewellery through local jewellery shops. The identities of other gang members have been established, and raids are underway to arrest them.
With inputs from IANS