Wife Sarpanch and Husband Robber: Gujarat Police Raided Rajasthan's Villages and Picked Up Idol Thief In Filmy Style, Link Found From An SMS

In the first episode of Gujarat Crime Files, you came to know that 7 to 8 robbers attacked the Jain derasar in Umta village of Visnagar at night and looted the idol of Chakreshwari Mataji by beating up 2 watchmen. This idol was 1500 years old. It was believed to be worth crores of rupees. At that time, the police did not have any link as there was no CCTV or any other clue. On the other hand, when the robbers were not caught, Jain Muni started fasting. Due to which the pressure on the Gujarat government increased and the SIT had to be formed. The SIT proceeded with the investigation on the basis of technical data. For the first one-and-a-half months, the police were empty-handed. Now read on... The technical analysis was to prove important for the police. Police checked lakhs of mobile numbers and found only one suspicious number. The mobile number was switched off from Jaipur at around 9 am the day before the robbery in Derasar and started in Ambaji. It received a roaming SMS and immediately the mobile was switched off again. An SMS was sent to the mobile and it was found to be active in Ambaji during which it was switched off. On the night the idol was looted, there was a roaming message. The number was activated near Jaipur the next morning. The police extracted the call details of the suspicious number and got the name and address. The number was identified as Shivcharan Meena, a resident of Rajasthan's Dosa district. Now the police interrogated the chowkidars and got the link to the address of the owner of the mobile. The guards said that the robbers spoke Hindi and the mobile was found to be active in Rajasthan, so the police got another clue about the involvement of a Rajasthani gang in the case. JD Purohit kept Shivcharan's mobile number under supervision in the Crime Branch. Dilip Thakor was keeping an eye on it. After coming to know about the suspicious number, the then PI of Ahmedabad Crime Branch, JD Purohit Dosa, along with the Mehsana LCB team, left for Dosa. The police were supposed to reach Sadpar village on the outskirts of Dausa district, about 65 km from Jaipur. A team of Gujarat Police first reached Dosa and met the local SP. He cooperated with the Gujarat Police in the investigation. Shivcharan Meena alias Chhappan Mullaram has 35 offences registered against him, including robbery, murder, robbery and the Arms Act. His wife is the Sarpanch of this village. Shivcharan was found guilty of 35 offences against him. Since he was also booked under the Arms Act, there was every possibility that he was in possession of a weapon. His wife was the sarpanch of the village, so he was also sure to have political influence. Since such an accused could not be easily caught, the police made a special plan to catch Shivcharan. The police first decided to seek information about the geography of the village and Shivcharan. The police stayed at another village twenty kilometres away to know about the geography of Sadpar village. Every morning, the police in private vehicles and private dresses would go around the village to investigate. The police came to know from the village that the accused was in possession of 1-2 weapons. There were 3 or 4 people who lived with him constantly. Shivcharan used to roam around in an open jeep and the name Sarpanch was written on the front of the jeep. The offences registered against Shivcharan at the local police station were only 8 km away from the village. He was wanted in 25 of the 35 crimes he committed in the same police station. Whenever the local police caught another accused, Shivcharan himself would go to the police station to free him, but the local police did not dare to catch him. This was his fear. After knowing this fact, the Gujarat Police realised that if Shiv Charan was to be arrested, it was necessary to have a team of 10 to 15 policemen. The police also received a tip-off that Shivcharan had a good relationship with a teacher. The teacher lived in a nearby village and used to teach the students of the village. Shivcharan often used to visit this teacher alone. This was the only point in which the chances of Shivcharan clashing with the police were reduced. When the police investigated further, it was found that the teacher's school time was in the morning. When he would leave school around 12:30 p.m., Shivcharan would meet him on the way and come back to the village, so this was the only time when the police could catch him when he was alone. However, even if Shivcharan was alone, he used to carry 1-2 weapons. The then PI J.D. Purohit came to know about all this and informed his team members and top police officials of the SIT. The top officials, in consultation with each other, sent Jitendra Yadav, the then PI of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch and now the Principal (DySP) of the state's Prison Department Training Center, to Dosa with his team. While the second team of the then PI of the Crime Branch and now DySP Paresh Solanki was in Rajasthan for the investigation. They were also instructed to reach for help. According to the instructions, the three teams gathered at the SP of Dosa and were discussing. At the same time, J.D. Purohit received information from the informant that the teacher had told the accused Shivcharan to teach him how to shoot. So Shivcharan was going to take the teacher to a secluded place to shoot. Now the police devised a strategy to nab Shivcharan. Since JD Purohit was aware of the geographical condition of the village, he made a complete map on paper and explained it to the other two teams. After this, 3 police cars were prepared. In one of the cars, J D Purohit and Jitendra Yadav and two other constables Vijay and a local constable were in the car. The second car belonged to Mehsana police and the third car belonged to the then PI Paresh Solanki. The three cars were heading in different directions. At this time the police had only one photograph of the accused. From which he could be identified. In the meantime, Shivcharan fired at the teacher and sent her away on a scooty, after which he went to meet the sarpanch of a nearby village. After meeting the sarpanch, he left for his village on a bike with his friend. At this time JD Purohit's team saw him coming from the front. Jitendra Yadav was driving the car. The two discussed among themselves that if they tried to stop Shivcharan, they might start firing at each other. The other two constables in the team do not have any weapons. In front of them are Shivcharan and his friend. If both have weapons, there is a better chance of them escaping. After this, JD Purohit and Jitendra Yadav made a new plan in the car itself and decided to hit Shiv Charan. Master Jitendra Yadav hit Shivcharan's bike minor while driving the car. In the event of a car collision, it is natural for any bike rider to jump 8-10 feet and fall away. The same thing happened with Shivcharan. He and his friend jumped 8-10 feet. After this, J.D. Purohit and 2 other constables jumped out of the car at the speed of a leopard and ran towards the accused. There was a scuffle between him and the accused. In which JD Purohit's shirt was torn but he succeeded in snatching the weapon from Shivcharan. On the other hand, Jitendra Yadav's car fell into a ditch seven feet deep nearby. The front two wheels of the car went into the pothole and the rear two wheels were out of the pit. However, Jitendra Yadav jumped out of the car and rushed to the accused. Together, they caught the two accused, put them in burqas, handcuffed them and made them sit in the car. The scene was witnessed by a local person passing by. He knew Shivcharan, a local man. Sadpar village was just 700 to 800 metres away from the spot where the incident took place. He went to the village and told him that Shivcharan had a quarrel with someone, so 8 to 10 people from the village came to the spot where the incident took place. On the other hand, after putting the accused in the car, Jitendra Yadav got on the steering wheel. The local constable from Dosa was standing outside near the car, but the two front wheels of the car were in the pothole and there were thorns in the pothole. Still, J.D. is trying to ensure that the winning game is not lost and the criminals do not escape. Purohit and constable Vijay descended into the pit to lift the bonnet. Jitendra Yadav reversed the car and pressed his foot on the accelerator. Immediately, the car came out of the ditch. However, there was another disaster in front of this team. The crowd, which had come out of the village with sticks of wood, had come very close. As the crowd approached the car, the constable standing outside threw 4-5 people to the ground. Now the police had a chance to get out of there immediately. The constable standing outside got into the car and Jitendra Yadav drove the car. Seeing the car fleeing, the mob also pelted stones at it but no one was injured. Within a few moments, a police car was racing towards Dosa. On the way, the other team was also informed about the completion of the operation. When the police informed the other team, Shivcharan came to know from the conversation that it was the Gujarat Police. Later, when he was brought to the Dosa SP office and made to sit in front of the SP, he told him that the idol was stolen by Vardhi Chand and was in Mathura. Even though no one asked, he accepted it, so the Gujarat Police was also shocked. In the meantime, the SIT officials came to know that Shiv Charan had been caught, so they were instructed to ensure that the Gujarat police team that had gone to Rajasthan reached Mathura immediately and took possession of the idol. So the police left for Mathura from Dosa at night. The distance from Dosa to Mathura was approximately 164 km. By 4-5 a.m., a police team reached there. When he reached the address given by Shivcharan, he found that there was only a roof-like building in the field. Neither Vardhi Chand nor Murthy was found there. The police team returned to Dosa empty-handed. He questioned Shivcharan again. He told the police that he had stolen the idol and came straight to Mathura and had given the idol to Vardhichand and returned to Sadpar village. However, the police did not like his statement. JD Purohit called Dilip Thakor at the Ahmedabad Crime Branch and asked for Shivcharan's call details. It was revealed that Shivcharan had gone straight from Jaipur to Sadpar village, but he did not go to Mathura. If he had gone to Mathura, many mobile towers would have changed on the way. So it was clear that Shivcharan was lying. Now the police questioned Shivcharan sternly. In which he confessed that he had hidden the idol in a field in Sadpar village. After Shivcharan's confession, another challenge came before the police as the police had to go to Shivcharan's village to get the idol. In the past, whenever the police went to his village, the police were attacked. Now, if the police went to his village with Shivcharan, there was a fear of an attack on the police. In such a situation, the higher authorities were again informed about this. So IG Jebalia spoke to top police officials of Rajasthan. After this, a team of 20-25 armed policemen under the DySP of Rajasthan Special Team was formed and sent to Sadpar village along with Gujarat Police. On the way, the Gujarat Police thought that if Shiv Charan was taken to the village and the villagers attacked him and released him, then all the hard work would be wasted, so the police decided on the way that Shiv Charan would not be taken to the village. A team led by Jitendra Yadav made Shivcharan sit at gunpoint at a remote place, 10 km from Sadpar village. On the other hand, a team of Rajasthan Police, including JD Purohit and Paresh Solanki, reached the village. Here I went to the field with Shivcharan's wife. Shivcharan dug at the spot he had said but found nothing. When the police got a sense that Shivcharan was going to goth him again, JD Purohit called the police officer Jitendra Yadav who was with Shivcharan and told him everything. Shivcharan relaxed as Jitendra Yadav used strictness. He told me to give the phone to my wife so that I could show her the exact location. However, the police were not going to stumble now. The police put the phone on speaker because the DySP of Rajasthan was present there and if Shivcharan spoke to his wife in his own language, he could understand. As the police thought, when Shiv Charan spoke to his wife, the Gujarat police did not know anything, but the DySP of Rajasthan came to know that Shiv Charan was saying something different to his wife, so he disconnected the phone and spoke to Shivcharan's wife in the same language. Shivcharan's wife told him that the idol is not here but is somewhere else, but only you come with me. After which he went five kilometers away and returned with the idol in an hour. The police were shocked to find the idol and checked if the idol was broken. As the idol was safe, the Gujarat Police thanked the Rajasthan Police and caught Shivcharan and reached Mehsana with the idol. As it was a dizzying case, police chief Chittaranjan Singh held a press conference at the DG's office and announced that the entire case had been solved. Since the case of idol theft was registered, the police had to keep the issue of theft with themselves, but the religious sentiments of the people were not hurt, so the idol was kept in the derasar and police arrangements were set up there. A week later, the police withdrew the order of the court. During Shivcharan's interrogation, the names of 2 more accused, namely Vardhi Chand Thakur and Darji Bhagwan Singh, were revealed. Vardhichand Murthy is a thief. He has a hand in most of the idols being stolen. He used to see the idol and take photographs and then bargain for it. He had decided to pay Rs 10 lakh to Shivcharan and Rs 5 lakh to other members of the gang for looting the idol of Chakreshwari Mataji. After this was decided, Shivcharan and the other accused came to Umta village 15 days before the robbery and did Reiki. Shivcharan and the other accused switched off their mobile phones when they were on their way to Umta from Jaipur. He was standing where he had come from Ambaji. During this time, Shivcharan was wearing jeans pants. Since it is a pair of jeans, it is natural for them to fit. As a result, the mobile phone in the pocket of the pants was switched on. So there was a roaming message in it. Shivcharan came to know from the sound of the message and immediately switched off the mobile phone, but by then Shivcharan's location had been recorded in the mobile company's network. In this way, the mobile of Shiv Charan, who was going to steal the idol, was switched on for just 2 seconds in Ambaji. Due to the message in it, the police were able to solve the whole case, so JD Purohit thanked Maa Amba from the bottom of his heart. The case is currently going on in court. Also Read Gujarat Police Breaks Into Rajasthan's Villages and Picks Up Idol Thief In Filmy Style, Part-1