<![CDATA[KOLHAPUR: The crime branch of the Kolhapur police on Saturday arrested four members of a gang for their alleged involvement in burglaries in various cities across the state, including Pune. The same gang is behind the house break-in cases reported from Kolhapur district over the last two months, police said. Valuables worth Rs 1 lakh were recovered from the suspects. According to a police official, the gang, from Itakur village of Kalamb taluka in Osmanabad district, comprises 10 members, out of whom six are absconding. The arrested suspects - Datta Atmaram Kale (26), Rameshwar Chhana Shinde (39), Rajendra Aba Kale (24) and Anil Bhagwan Kale (45) - have confessed to have committed around 60 house break-ins in various parts of the district, including Kolhapur city, in the last two months, police said. They also admitted to have targeted 500 places in various cities in three years, including Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Ratnagiri, Sangli and Satara. Police inspector D N Mohite said that following the increase in the frequency of house break-ins in the district, police had increased patrolling and were focusing on the modus operandi of the criminals to get some clues. "During investigation, we found that at many targeted houses, the culprits had prepared food or taken away eatables with them. At some spots, we also found faeces, which helped us trace them as such gangs belong to a specific community residing in Osmanabad district," he said. Mohite said that sources revealed that some people from Itkur village in Kalamb taluka regularly travelled to Kolhapur. "We soon formed three teams and sent them to Kalamb. These teams found the whereabouts of the culprits, raided their houses and arrested the four suspects," he said.During the search operation, police recovered valuables worth Rs 1 lakh, including gold and silver jewellery. <div class="last2brdiv"></div>]]>
