Women supercops foil sandalwood theft
Mid-day: Police Sub-Inspectors Anjali Khare of the Deccan police station and Manisha Dhamne-Patil of the Chatushungi police station nabbed nine sandalwood thieves after a three-hour chase that would have done a Kiran Bedi proud.
The arrested were identified as Mamdi Darshan Aadwase (20) Jagla Tiparrao Mukundrao (32) and Kurkutti Kiwi Rajput (22) and six others. All nine members of the gang are from MP.
Following a tip off late Sunday night, Khare and Dhamne under the supervision of DCP Anil Kumbhare managed to arrest the thieves who had cut four sandalwood trees on Hanuman Hill. The tipper sounded the police control room at 1.45 am, following which Khare, Dhamne and a team of five policemen swung into action.
DCP Kumbhare, also on his night rounds, reached the spot in a few minutes and cordoned off the hill. “Khare showed excellent courage as she decided to climb the hill when it was pitch dark,” Kumbhare said. PSI Khare discovered that there were more than 10 people in the gang.
“It was past 2 am and we had kept our flashlights off, so the gang would not learn of our presence. They were about to attack, when I ordered my team to fire. The gang dispersed in the forest,” said Khare. Khare called up Kumbhare at this point, who nabbed one member of the gang in the Pandavnagar neighbourhood.
Sub-Inspector Manisha Dhamne was close to Hanuman Hill when she received information that the thieves had managed to flee. Dhamne noticed two members of the gang carrying a jute sack, which turned out to be stuffed with sandalwood. She arrested two other gang members near the Chatushungi Hill and two more in Pashan. Khare nabbed two of the thieves near the NCC grounds at 4.45 am. “All the thieves initially told the cops that they were on morning walks. Thanks to the wonderful team effort, we saw through the ruse,” said Dhamne.
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