Cops bust gang of vehicle thieves with arrest of 3

The anti-vehicle theft cell of the police claimed to have busted a vehicle-lifting gang by nabbing three persons and recovering four tractors and three SUVs worth Rs 40 lakh from their possession yesterday.u00a0

According to the police, the kingpin of gang has been identified as Raju Baburao Jawalkar (43), a resident of Khanapur in Haveli taluka.u00a0

Jawalkar has 128 cases of vehicle theft and house break-in registered against him in several police stations in the city as well as in rural parts of the district. The police said that the accused also had stolen some vehicles from Ahmednagar and Satara districts.u00a0

His accomplices have been identified as Somnath Chaudhary (24), a resident of Fursungi, and Ramesh Mahadev Kumbhar (32) of Kolhapur.u00a0