Kochi, Sep 21: The Kerala police in Thrissur and Kannur have arrested 10 members of an Uttar Pradesh-based gang accused of travelling to Kerala to steal copper wires and valuables from locked houses and offices, uncovering an unusual modus operandi in the process, officials said on Monday.

The gang members, all natives of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, used to fly to Kerala while sending their two-wheelers ahead by train, police said.

The modus operandi came to light during the interrogation of Rehan, one of the gang members taken into custody by the Thrissur police.

According to police, Rehan told investigators that the gang would send their motorcycles from their hometown to railway stations in Kochi before boarding flights to Kerala. After landing, the members would collect their two-wheelers and split into smaller groups to scout for targets.

Locked houses and offices containing large quantities of copper wire were among their preferred targets, police said. Telephone exchanges and similar establishments were particularly attractive because of the quantity of copper wiring.

After identifying a target, the gang would allegedly break in, steal copper wires and other valuables and sell the material before moving on to another location.

Acting on the information provided by Rehan, police arrested four members of the gang from Kochi. Another five were arrested from Kannur while they were allegedly engaged in their activities.

With Rehan, the number of arrested gang members has risen to 10. Police said the gang had been operating in other states using a similar method.

Investigators are now checking their possible involvement in theft cases reported elsewhere, besides examining the extent of their activities in Kerala.

The investigation has also revealed the extent to which the gang had planned its movements.

By sending their motorcycles to Kerala by train before flying down, they were able to have their own vehicles ready for use immediately after landing.

The police are now questioning the arrested persons to establish the full network, identify the places targeted by the gang and trace the stolen copper and other material.

Pune, Sep 20: A fake account on social media platform Instagram, along with ChatGPT and murder films, was used by Siya Goyal and her co-accused in the alleged murder of her fiance Ketan Agarwal, reveals the charge sheet filed by the police in the sensational case.

The 5,053-page charge sheet, filed on Saturday, detailed the alleged conspiracy behind the death of the 26-year-old businessman at Lohagad Fort in Pune in June, NDTV reported.

Agarwal was allegedly pushed off the fort on June 18 by his fiancee Siya Goyal, who was assisted by her purported lover Chetan Chaudhary, and another accused, identified as Ritesh Hange. All three have been arrested by the police.

According to the charge sheet, the accused had initially discussed seriously injuring Agarwal and even explored the possibility of hiring someone from outside Maharashtra to carry out the attack.

Police claimed the plan was later dropped because they feared the hired assailant could expose the conspiracy or create problems for them. Investigators have mentioned that a person contacted during this stage has since become a witness, the media report said.

As per the charge sheet, the accused subsequently decided to kill Agarwal themselves and watched murder films and used ChatGPT for the purpose. They also listened to podcasts on how to avoid detection by police as part of their preparations.

Goyal and her co-accused also researched last year’s Meghalaya honeymoon murder case where Indore resident Raja Raghuvanshi was allegedly killed by his wife, Sonam, during the couple’s honeymoon in the state’s East Khasi Hills district.

Moreover, investigators stated that a fake Instagram account named ‘Mahi’ was created using the photograph of a woman known to the accused in order to “lure” Agarwal to the fort.

Subsequently, messages from the account encouraged the victim to visit the spot on June 18 for a surprise birthday plan for Goyal.

According to the chargesheet, the fake account was part of a plan devised by Ritesh Hange to bring Agarwal to the fort. The account was deleted after the incident.

Further, the charge sheet also revealed that the accused conducted a recce of locations around Lonavala before selecting Lohagad Fort.

According to investigators, Goyal and Chaudhary visited Tiger Point and other locations in search of an isolated spot.

Police said that Lohagad was eventually selected because of a death at the fort in March last year. The accused thought they could make Agarwal’s death appear like an accidental fall at the spot.

Chandigarh, Sep 20: In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police on Sunday said it had busted a cross-border heroin smuggling network by apprehending four operatives and recovering 47.3 kg of heroin, three pistols, three magazines, 15 cartridges, and two vehicles.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused are linked to a network involved in cross-border smuggling of heroin and illegal arms into Punjab, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav wrote on X.

He said the first investigation report (FIR) was registered in Faridkot.

Further investigation is underway to uncover the wider network and establish its linkages.

A day earlier, Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar busted another cross-border narcotics smuggling module with the arrest of three key operatives and recovered 17 kg of heroin from their possession. Police had identified the arrested as Prince, Malkit Singh, and Rajinder Singh, all residents of Kot Mit Singh in Amritsar.

Apart from the heroin, police teams also impounded a car used for transporting the contraband.

With this seizure on Saturday, CI Amritsar has pushed the total recovery of heroin to 54 kg in four days, having previously recovered consignments of 27 kg and 10 kg.

DGP Yadav said CI Amritsar teams had received specific input that three operatives of the smuggling module had received a drone-dropped consignment and were expected to strike a major drug deal beneath the flyover on the Amritsar-Tarn Taran road. Acting promptly, police established a checkpoint and intercepted their car near the park by the flyover. During the search, 17 kg of heroin was recovered.

On September 16, four persons were held with 27 kg of heroin and a foreign-made .30 bore PX5 pistol with three cartridges. On September 18, one person was held with 10 kg of heroin.