Pune: The Wakad police have busted a seven-member gang from Mumbai that allegedly stole dry fruits and ghee pouches from hypermarket chain stores in Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune over the past month.The police team, led by senior inspector Vitthal Salunkhe, recovered stolen goods, an autorickshaw and a car, collectively worth Rs 7.21 lakh, from the gang.Assistant inspector Shriniwas Ghadge of the Wakad police told TOI that a loss prevention officer of the hypermarket had lodged a complaint stating that a gang, including women, had stolen dry fruits and ghee pouches from two of its stores in Wakad on Aug 12 and 29.“We checked the CCTV footage and found that after committing the thefts, the gang members would get into an autorickshaw and then travel towards Mumbai in a car,” Ghadge said.Police received a tip-off that the same car had returned to the Pimpri Chinchwad area last week. “We laid a trap and took the gang into custody,” he said.The officer said during sustained questioning, the gang members admitted to stealing goods from the hypermarket’s stores in Wakad, Pimple Gurav, Chikhali and Wagholi. “We have recovered stolen goods from the gang,” he said.Ghadge said the accused revealed during interrogation that they specifically targeted the hypermarket because there was no security check at the exit gate. “The women in the gang would enter the store, steal the pouches and keep them in specially made pockets inside their clothes,” Ghadge said.“After leaving the store, the women would get into an autorickshaw and travel to a car waiting for them some distance away. They would visit three to four stores in a day and return to Mumbai. They would sell the stolen goods in Mumbai,” he said.Ghadge said the gang had also stolen goods from stores of the same hypermarket chain in Mumbai, Pune and other cities. “Our investigation is on,” he said.
