South cops bust burglar-buyer nexus

NAMCHI, 27 March: South District cops today busted what they are convinced is a prolific nexus of burglars and buyers of stolen goods. Following a string of arrests, six in all, affected today, the police have also solved a string of burglaries in this South District headquarter town reported during the winter vacations.
The string of burglaries unraveled with the arrest of 31 year old Budhiman Sarki, originally of Hee-Patal in West Sikkim, this morning in connection with investigations into a spurt in the theft of LPG cylinders in Namchi.
An official communiqué informs that the accused was taken into custody in connection with theft cases of LPG cylinders and other petty items reported by various complainants to Namchi Police Station. The arrest, police officials inform, was on the basis of reliable source information. Cops had reportedly been keeping a close watch on the activities of the suspect for a while, especially since theft of LPG cylinders and other burglaries increased during the winter holidays.
Today’s raid was conducted by a team comprising of PI CB Basnett, SI Renuka Chettri, Nk Tikaram Gurung, LNk Lako Tshering Lepcha, LNk Til Bahadur Rai, LNk LB Rai and Constable Dharmaraj Chettri, who arrested the suspect and also recovered stolen goods “consisting of a laptop, LPG cylinders, utensils, gold ornaments, watches, mobile phones, pen drives, audio/video cassettes, data cable, internet connections, VCDs, TV, wallet with some cash and other incriminating articles”.
The accused, it is claimed, admitted to his involvement in many cases of theft and also spilled that he has been selling the stolen articles in Namchi and Jorethang for a long time.
The release adds that the accused revealed the names of people who had bought the stolen articles from him. They are: Ajay Rai [35], son of Purna Bahadur Rai of Jorethang Daragaon; Bishnu Bahadur Chettri [41], son of Ram Bahadur Chettri of Gelling busty, West Sikkim; Santosh Sharma [51], son of Late Pabilall Sharma of Gelling busty, West Sikkim; Sunil Gupta [31], son of Mohan Prasad Gupta of Jorethang Bazaar, South Sikkim and Karma Pintso Bhutia [44], son of late Loday Bhutia of Ravangla-Kewzing Road, South Sikkim, presently residing in Jorethang.
All the five persons, who are alleged to have bought stolen goods have also been arrested by the police as per the disclosure statement made by the accused, the official release informs.
The release goes on to add: “The team has made good achievement and with this catch, a number of pending theft cases of Namchi and Jorethang police stations have been solved. He might have been involved in other burglaries and theft cases in nearby areas as well”.
The accused has been remanded to police custody till 31 March, it is learnt.