Hunt for goat-lifters leads to arrest gang of killers in MP

Police have stumbled upon a gang of killers while hunting for goat-lifters in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district.

Singrauli police said they have arrested all the five members of the gang who have "confessed" to killing four persons over a period of three years.

All their victims were goat owners or herders who had resisted the gang in stealing their livestock, police said.

"They have also revealed the exact places where they killed their victims. We are trying to identify the deceased persons with the help of local police stations in the respective districts," superintendent of police D Kalyan Chakraborty said over phone from Singrauli, around 780 km from Bhopal.

The accused were identified as Shabeer Khan, Film Khan, Kalu Khan, Guddu Khan and Ashok Gupta.

According to Singrauli police, Shabeer, Film and Khanu used to disguise themselves as nomads and loot goats from grazing ground.

"If someone opposed or tried to run away to inform others, these three either injured them or killed them," a police source said.

Guddu and Ashok would reached the spot in a truck and load the goats in the vehicle which were then were sold in UP, Jharkhand and Bihar. The gang was involved in stealing of goats in Vindhya Region of Madhya Pradesh, Sarguja District of Chhattisgarh and Sonbhadra district of UP.

Singrauli police had been receiving complaints of missing of goats for the past few months.

On Sunday, police caught a truck carrying a large number of goats Amlori in Singrauli district.

On the truck was Guddu Khan who fumbled for answer when police enquired about papers of sell and purchase of goats.

When police put pressure on Guddu, he spilled the beans and also revealed the names of the other members.