Jharkhand News: Latehar Police bust highway robbers; cash, beverages recovered

THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK

Daltonganj, May 30: In a major breakthrough, Latehar police on Thursday arrested five members of a gang involved in a bizarre highway robbery, recovering ₹4.5 lakh in cash, 156 boxes of cold drinks, 31 boxes of bottled water, and an iPhone worth ₹75,000. The gang had allegedly used the stolen money to purchase the high-end phone.

The arrests were made following a joint raid conducted by Chhipadohar and Garu police stations along with the SAT (Small Action Team) of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), acting on a tip-off received by SP Kumar Gaurav about suspicious activity at Buxa More on State Highway 9.

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The arrested individuals were identified as Hari Nandan (22) from Latehar, and Shubham (21), Dhiraj (21), Rohit Patel (20), and Azad Ansari (23), all residents of Garhwa district.

The group had been using various vehicles—from cars to autorickshaws—to carry out highway robberies. Police also recovered a looted four-wheeler during the operation.

According to sources, this is the first reported case in the region where robbers looted not just cash, but also large quantities of beverages and used the stolen money to purchase luxury items.

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All five accused were remanded to judicial custody on Friday. The successful crackdown comes as a major relief to commuters, especially after a recent case on May 24 where a woman was robbed of ₹7 lakh on the same highway stretch, which had become increasingly prone to such incidents.