The Magadi Road police, on Wednesday, arrested a 50-year-old habitual offender, who was allegedly running a gang that stole two-wheelers and mobile phones. According to the police, the accused, Aslam Pasha, 50, is a gangster and a rowdy sheeter from J.J. Nagar.
They identified him as the prime accused with the help of CCTV footage while probing a case.
The police later arrested his associate Mohammed Usman and recovered two stolen motorcycles, and two phones worth ₹2.6 lakh from the duo. They also recovered ₹31,000 in cash.
However, three other members of the gang managed to escape, and efforts are on to track them down, said a senior police officer.
High drama prevailed for sometime when a police team moved in to secure Aslam at his residence. He reportedly created a scene and then fainted. Enraged by this, his family members and neighbours attacked the police team. “However, we secured Aslam to the station and later arrested his associate,” the police officer added.
Apart from running the gang, Aslam also purchased stolen mobile phones from other muggers in and around the city. He would sell the devices to his contacts in other cities.
This is not his first brush with the police. He was earlier arrested by Ashok Nagar police for a similar offence but was released on bail. “After he came out of jail, he shifted his area of operations from central to west division,” the police added.
