Gang of truck robbers headed by ex-chef held

NEW DELHI, February 26: A chef decided to change professions, chucked his job at The Oberoi in Mumbai and hit the road, literally. Accord...

NEW DELHI, February 26: A chef decided to change professions, chucked his job at The Oberoi in Mumbai and hit the road, literally. According to Crime Branch officials, Parmanand Kumar Baira heads a gang that loots trucks on national highways.

The police received a complaint from the Delhi-based Jaipur Golden Transport Company that one of their trucks carrying brass rods and electric parts worth Rs 25 lakh had been looted. The truck was loaded in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

Investigations led the team from the Anti-Kidnapping Cell to the chef, who was arrested. Apart from the brass rods, the police claim to have recovered three truckloads of gram and wheat. Other gang members arrested include drivers Nirmal Singh and Charanjit Singh.

According to the police, Baira worked at the Oberoi, Hilltop and Natraj hotels in Mumbai. He then worked for hotels in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and the United Kingdom, before returning to India. The gang allegedly operated through transport booking agents, who gave them information about various consignments. The goods were then stolen in transit. With these arrests, the police claim to have worked out truck robbery cases in Adarsh Nagar and Timarpur in the Capital, Jamnagar in Gujarat and Bharatpur in Rajasthan.