123 Kolkata: The detective department has arrested six women, all hailing from South India but using Gujarat and Bengal as their base to carry out kepmari, earlier this month. The accused were arrested from outside the Hastings Mazar and Alipore Zoo. All their targets, claimed cops, were males.
While cops claimed to have solved two cases of theft and kepmari inside public transport — both were registered at Burrabazar PS — they suspect them to be involved in multiple other thefts at Alipore zoo, Victoria Memorial and Howrah station. "The accused rented accommodation at Chinsurah and commuted to these locations," said an officer.
"In the first case, three women of this gang — Santa Swami (53), Kabita Swami (46), and Sakila Banu (50) — were arrested. On Dec 16, they looted one Rafikul Islam Sk (40), a Katwa resident, while he was travelling in a bus from Howrah to Dalhousie. By the time the victim got off at Pagaya Patty, he realised Rs 11.3 lakh was missing from the bag," said an officer.
The cops also arrested three others of the same gang — Renu Swami (53), Shanti Swami (21), and Rekha Swami (28) — from Alipore zoo. The accused, on Dec 12, looted Rs 14,200 from one Basudev Sarkar (51) while he was travelling from Sealdah to Burrabazar. The gang operates in sets of three or four. Each member is assigned a task — while one spots the targets, another distracts them either by engaging them in argument or hitting them on ribs. The third steals the wallet or phone and hands it to another accomplice who flees the spot.