Four men have been arrested and valuables worth Rs 19,65,000 were recovered by the the Pimpri- Chinchwad crime branch officials on Thursday, according to Krishna Prakash, commissioner, Pimpri- Chinchwad police.

The four have been identified as Chandrakant alias SM Anant Mane (27) and Raju Shambhu Devnath Raju Bangali (20), both residents of Vetal nagar in Chinchwad; Ram alias Ramjane Lakshman Ksshirsagar (26), a resident of Wagholi in Kalamb taluka of Osmanabad; and Amol alias Bhelya Arun Male alias Ghuge (27), a resident of Chinchwade nagar in Chinchwad.

“These four accused are repeat offenders of house theft and there are respective 45, 18, 6 and 9 cases - collectively 76 cases - against them in Pimpri- Chinchwad, Pune city and Pune rural," read a statement from the Pimpri-Chinchwad crime branch.

Of the nine cases that were detected by the recovery, one case is registered at Vishrambaug police station, two are registered in Chinchwad and Dehuroad each, and four are registered at Nigdi police station.

With 381 grammes of gold jewellery, and 1kg silver jewellery, along with other household belongings were among the recovered items, according to the police.

Mali, who is a rickshaw driver, used to canvas locations to find buildings that did not have CCTV coverage. Mane and Bangali used to go inside these buildings, look for locked doors, and break them using a metal cutter or hammer, according to police.

Meanwhile, Mali and Kshirsagar would wait outside the building and keep a lookout, the police added.

The gang had sold 109 grammes of gold jewellery worth Rs 5,50,000, the police said.

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