Sarnath Police Arrest Three Over Locked-House Burglaries, Claim ₹7 Lakh Recovery

Sarnath police have arrested three young men they accuse of breaking into locked houses to pay for drugs and an expensive lifestyle, and say they have recovered goods worth about ₹7 lakh from them.

The three were identified as Gaurav Rai alias Golu Pandit, 20, Irsad, 18, and Vijay Chauhan alias Lucky Chauhan, 18. Police say they recovered ₹10,000 in cash and about two kilograms of yellow metal, along with other goods, taking the total value of the recovery to about ₹7 lakh.

According to Sarnath station in-charge Pankaj Tripathi, a police team was on patrol near the Faridpur underpass on the night of 23 September, checking suspicious people and vehicles. An informer then told the team that some thieves had gathered under the underpass to divide stolen goods among themselves.

Police surrounded the spot and caught five people. Three were arrested. Action was taken as per rules against their other associates and a juvenile, police said.

The goods were recovered from those caught at the underpass, police said. Police have not disclosed the names of the associates against whom separate action was taken.

The arrests came out of routine night patrolling and a tip-off, according to the station in-charge's account, rather than from a single complaint.

Police claim the arrested men are addicts. According to Tripathi, they targeted houses that were locked and empty, and carried out the thefts to feed their addiction and pay for their habits.

The police have not yet said how many burglaries the recovered goods have been linked to, or which localities the houses were in. Such details usually come out as recovered property is matched with theft complaints already registered at the station.

Police use the term "yellow metal" for material that resembles gold but has not yet been formally assayed, so the purity and value of what was recovered will be established later.

All three arrested men are between 18 and 20. The involvement of a juvenile means that part of the case will be handled under the Juvenile Justice Act, separately from the adults, and his identity cannot be disclosed.

The charges against the three are police allegations at this stage. The accused are to be produced in court, where the recovered goods and the evidence linking them to specific thefts will be tested.

Residents who have lost property in recent burglaries in the Sarnath area can approach the police station to check whether any of the recovered items belong to them. Identified property can be released to owners after court formalities.