The Kheda Local Crime Branch (LCB) has nabbed two members of a gang believed to be involved in the several loot cases on trains and on the highways of central Gujarat.

Though the accused have not been formally arrested, officers believe them to be the members of the same gang that carried out the loots after poisoning the victims.

LCB Inspector Vijaysinh Jadeja said the case was cracked following the murder of a truck driver – Madan Lal Sharma (40) from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh – near Umreth in Anand district earlier this month. The cleaner, Om Prakash (23), was given a cup of tea laced with sedatives, he said.

The case was referred to the Kheda LCB, and investigations around Thasra in Anand district, which borders Kheda, led to the arrest of two suspects.

Their interrogation revealed their collusion with hotel staff, said Jadeja. “This is a big gang operating in the region. We can’t disclose anything at the moment till the investigations are over. We have picked up two persons in this connection,” he said.

Investigations by the Kheda and Anand police further revealed that the gang was also operating through vendors at the railway stations. Three persons were reportedly de-boarded from the Sabarmati Express in Dahod recently after they fell unconscious upon consuming tea from vendors.

Among the recent victim is a businessman from Mehsana, Ajmal Desai (40), who was travelling from Surat on a Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation bus on September 12.

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