Toothless law for juveniles: Cops catch same gang again for burglary

Nagpur: The lenient rules for juveniles in conflict with law have become a headache for the cops, who have caught the same set of minors for committing multiple offences over the last few months. The juveniles have been released from custody every time without punishment due to the law.
The gang of four juveniles was nabbed again by the crime branch team on Friday, after committing a spate of temple and bike thefts in different corners of the city. Temples were the favourite targets of this gang, as such places almost never have a security guard. However, their luck ran out as one of the premises had CCTV cameras, which captured them in the act. The footage helped the cops zero down upon them.
This gang, along with some senior members, had been netted by the same unit of crime branch earlier this year when similar offences were detected. Even as the senior members of the gang are still behind bars, the juveniles were set free by the court almost immediately after being caught.
The crime branch unit one, under senior PI Santosh Khandekar, rounded up the gang on the basis of images caught while they were burgling a temple at Yashoda Nagar within the limits of MIDC police station a few days ago. The gang of four had sneaked away with cash Rs1.20 lakh donated by devotees at the temple at Yashoda Nagar a few days ago.
Apart from Yashoda Nagar, the gang decamped with cash from donation boxes at Nandanvan and Sakkardara. Police have recovered cash Rs1.34 lakh from the gang, which also stole bikes. Police, under the supervision of DCP, crime, Nilesh Bharne and ACP, crime, Sudhir Nandanvar, have recovered two bikes stolen by the gang from Kalamna and Butibori.
It’s learnt that the gang would operate mostly in the wee hours of the day under influence of alcohol or narcotics. The gang would steal bikes before searching for a place to burgle. Most of the cash they got was spent in consuming liquor and narcotics.