Two members of 'Thak Thak' gang held

Two members of a 'Thak Thak' gang, that lifts belongings from cars by misleading its occupants, have been arrested here, police said on Monday.

They were arrested on the charges of robbery and three kg gold bricks, stolen from a gold dealer, were recovered from them, police said.

Police said Somu, 22, a resident of Tigri and his juvenile associate were arrested late Sunday night during a raid at Madangir in South Delhi.

Both were arrested when they were planning to dispose off the stolen gold bricks. The kingpin of the gang is yet to be arrested, a senior police officer said.

"Somu told interrogators that 4-6 gang members on motorcycles used to target vehicles near traffic signals to get the car stopped on the side of the road. They panicked the vehicle drivers and owners on the pretext of oil leakage in their car," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Vijay Kumar said.

"When the car occupant used to step out, the juvenile members of the gang lifted his bag and other costly articles," Kumar said.

Somu also told the police that sometimes the gang members hit the cars from the back side, punctured a tyre or threw some engine oil on the bonnet and radiator of car which resulted in fumes emanating from the engine to panic the victims, Kumar added.

The gang members than gathered at a designated place for distribution of booty but not in the evening due to incessant raids, he said.

Somu and other gang members on Friday robbed Rachit Gupta, an Uttarakhand based gold dealer when he had come to meet another gold dealer in Janakuri area in West Delhi, police said.

Gupta placed the bag containing three gold bricks on the rear seat of his car while returning to Uttarakhand.

When Gupta reached near Pankha road in Sagarpur, Somu and other gang members signalled Gupta about oil leakage from his car, the DCP said.

When Gupta stopped his car to check the car's engine, the gangsters lifted his gold bricks bag, he said.

--IANS

sp/pgh/bg