Officials here feel that while the modus operandi used by gangs of armed robbers is typical of the gang and helps in identifying it, some superstitions prevalent among these gangs give them away and are often instrumental in arresting culprits.

There are gangs which never carry sticks or any wooden weapons while raiding a house while others use only freshly cut sticks from trees. Some use huge boulders to break down doors and force their way into houses while some carry axes. Members of one gang invariably urinate in the house that they have struck, while members of another defecate before leaving. In one gang the members apply oil all over their bodies.

Others, as a tradition, place a few stones in a particular shape before decamping. Officials here said that gang members had confessed when caught that they do so in order to keep the gang united. One gang keeps stocks of small concrete stones the size of a cricket ball which they use effectively when chased.

``While each gang has its trademark style of carrying out dacoities, these gangs are highly superstitious too. It thus makes identification of the gang and further arresting easier,'' a top city police official told Express Newsline. The Modus Operandi branch of the police force, which works under the DCB, based on the evidence and eyewitness accounts can thus exactly point out the gang involved in the crime, sometimes even making it possible to identify gang members based on information provided and previous records.

Among the main gangs active in South Gujarat are the Chaddi Banian Dhari, Dafer, Kevat, Waghris, Bawaris, Nats, Sansis, Shikliyar, Jhaver Thutho, Chharras and other gangs. Police records made available to Express Newsline list distinguishing features of various gangs that help the police identify and track them down.

For example, the Bawari gang is known to camp at railway stations before striking. They use the `rumali' method, where they bend grills of houses to force their way inside. Other gangs like the Dafers and Chaddi Banian Dharis survey possible targets by posing as beggars, vendors and the like. Dafers are known to possess firearms but use these only when challenged. The Chaddi Banian Dhari gang, as the name suggests, are dressed in shorts and banians and have their faces masked. They strike only on highways and of late, have been known to raid houses on the outskirts of cities and towns. The Shikliyars are known to manufacture country made firearms and sell these to gangs with whom they are connected.

Sources however said that no major gang was originally from South Gujarat and had come here either from central Gujarat or Saurashtra. Some of these gangs are now suspected to have spread all over the country.``The main problem now is that their mobility has increased manifold. These gangs are no longer regional,'' commented one official.