Mumbai police bust ‘Bol Bachchan’ gang linked to Uttarakhand village

Mumbai police have identified Gularbhoj a village in Uttarakhandrsquos Udham Singh Nagar district as a rising hotspot for criminal activities Drawing parallels with Jamtaramdashinfamous for cyber fraudmdashthe police say Gularbhoj is now a breeding ground for a new kind of deception the lsquoBol Bachchanrsquo gangAccording to Assistant Police Inspector API Sunil Karande of Mulund Police Station who is investigating a case involving the gang the criminals operate in groups of four to five preying on unsuspecting women in public placesldquoThese men aged between 30 and 40 approach women on the streets with remarkable confidence They introduce themselves as religious men from places like Haridwar or Varanasi and start conversations about the womenrsquos personal problems By gaining their trust they eventually steal gold jewellery and valuables before fleeing on their bikesrdquo said KarandeThe first FIR was registered on December 17 2024 by a woman prompting police to launch an investigation As the suspects remained unidentified another case surfaced on January 10 followed by a third on January 31 Soon after FIRs with a similar modus operandi were registered at Ghatkopar Tilak Nagar and Dharavi police stations in MumbaiThe Mulund police team began their probe by analysing CCTV footage ldquoWe scanned footage from over 70 CCTV cameras and spotted the culprits riding their bikes but there was no immediate lead to track them downrdquo said a police official involved in the investigationThe gang was seen moving across several locations including Shindewadi Court in Dadar Dharavi Hindmata Junction Kamgar Hospital in Mulund Khabutar Khana in Matunga Savitribai Phule Nagar in Ghatkopar entry number 10 of Sion Hospital Devidayal Road at LBS Road and finally Bandra Railway Station near the Parcel Booking OfficeldquoThe Parcel Booking Office proved to be our breakthroughrdquo said Assistant Police Inspector API Sunil Karande ldquoWe obtained a vehicle registration number and with details from the Railways discovered that the gang was shipping their bike to UttarakhandrdquoTeam sent to GularbhojA few days later a team was sent to Gularbhoj where with the assistance of Gadarpur police they entered the village and successfully arrested six suspectsThe accused arrested by the Mulund Police have been identified as Irfan Sheikh 25 Firoz Khairuddin 42 Naushad Hassan 28 Jallauddin Shah 45 Firaq Shah 33 and Ayub Hassan 26 Investigations have revealed that the arrested individuals have cases registered against them not only in Mumbai and the MMR region but also with the police in Rajasthan and HaryanaldquoGularbhoj is located at a dead end near a dam People sit along the boundaries as lsquolookoutsrsquo keeping watch for any outsiders The moment they spot a nonlocal they become highly alert Even the local police hesitate to enter the village due to the risk of unprovoked attacksrdquo said a Police officialRecently a team from Dharavi Police Station attempted to arrest four to five suspects in the village However by the time they arrived the locals had been alerted leading to an attack on the officers forcing them to abort the missionldquoItrsquos the new Jamtaramdashonly instead of cyber crimes this village is producing criminals for Bol Bachchan gang robberiesrdquo said API Sunil KarandeHe explained that the stolen gold and valuables from across India are sold at local gold shops for minimal cutsldquoThe accused selling the stolen gold receive only 2040 per cent of its market value yet they are content with that During interrogation one of the accused admitted that with just 20 per cent they can sustain themselves for a month or two Once the money runs out they plan their next targetrdquoKarande further stated that the gang has no geographical limitations ldquoThe entire country is their field which is why citizens should remain vigilant if approached by strangers trying to initiate vague conversationsrdquo he said 6No of suspects arrested