Anand police have busted a gang of thieves who stole precious things from temples and heritage places in Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Vadodara and Anand districts.

According to the Anand Local Crime Branch officers, the gang of four thieves including two brothers and two of their agents were involved in 32 major and minor thefts across the three districts in the last six years.

They said the gang was involved in the theft of precious things from temples and other heritage places. During one of their thefts they had stolen valuables worth Rs 32 lakh from the palace of former King of Devgadh Baria in Dahod district.

J B Goel, LCB Police Inspector, said the police arrested the gang leader, Babu Tarpade from Anklav taluka. “We arrested him with the help of the Anklav Police and got a two-day remand. During the interrogation, we found that his brother Jayanti Tarpade, who is also one of the accused, was in Bhadran and arrested him. Later, with the help of the local police, we also arrested one Bhagwan Kalidas Parmar from Umeta village bordering Vadodara, and Raisinh Tarpade from Sarod village,” added Goel.

LCB officers said the gang members were also involved in several thefts across central Gujarat including Dakor,

Ankleshwar, Bharuch, Vadodara, Devgadh Baria and Valia.

Goel said two agents from Borsad, Ashok Soni and Bodhi Bhavri, used to purchase stolen items from the gang members. “These thieves had knowledge about every single temple in the region including places in Palitana. We made a recovery Rs 50 lakh and handed it over to Devgadh Baria Police for further interrogation,” he said.