Police have arrested a gang of thieves of India notoriously known as ‘challa samuha’ who entered Nepal on the pretext of collecting scrap.

Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD) on Sunday arrested the six-member gang with one Nepali aide. The gang came into Nepal from Samastipur in the Indian state of Bihar.

According to police, two members of the gang were already booked under law in Nepal in burglary case. They were released after posting the bail amount.

The gang members used to visit house-to-house for collecting scrap and in meantime used to take the opportunity to steal anything valuable, said the MPCD. They are learnt to have stolen cash, jewellery, mobile phones and electronic devices.

The arrested ones have been identified as Dinesh Podar, Mukesh Kumar Podar, Ketalu Podar, Chandan Podar, Suraj Podar and Bikash Podar. Five of these thieves are below 20 years.

The arrested Nepali is identified as Raj Kumar Adhikari of Bara, who used to work in Pashupati Temple. Adhikari too was booked under law for public offence some three years ago. He was released after posting a bail of Rs 3,000.

According to the police, the arrested individuals were active in incidents of burglary in various Indian cities and would often come to Nepal to commit the crime by making their hideouts in various squatter settlements across Kathmandu including Gaushala, Tilganga, Baneshwor and Sinamangal.

As per the police, the perpetrators would take stock of the target house in the pretext of collecting scrap. Then they would come back to steal once the house owners had left the house, with some of them acting as the watch while other committed the crime. Once the burglary was successful they would flee back to India, informed MPCD.

The police have also recovered four mobile phones of different brands, three watches and an iron rod used for burglary from the arrestees.