Mira-Bhayandar: The Mira Road police, along with their crime branch counterparts, have arrested the kingpin and an accomplice in the case of thefts at controversial godman Dhirendra Shastri’s religious discourses last month.
The event drew thousands of followers and attracted the attention of a professional chain snatcher gang for whom the overcrowded venue turned out to be a virtual honeypot.
The police received complaints from 52 devotees, mostly women. Gold chains and mangalsutra weighing 490gm and collectively valued at around ₹25 lakh were stolen during the two-day event.
Six women members of the gang had been arrested earlier. Now the kingpin, Arjun Virendra Singh, 35, and his accomplice, Ranjit Kumar Lodhi, 30, have also been held. Based on the information provided by the duo, the police recovered stolen gold (411gm) in molten form worth around ₹20 lakh, from their house in Rundh Ikran near Chiksana in Bharatpur tehsil of Rajasthan with the help of their local counterparts on Thursday.
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