A theft that unfolded over three hours inside a heavily guarded builder’s residence in one of Ranchi’s most upscale neighbourhoods has led police to a gang whose reconnaissance methods look less like traditional burglary and more like a planned military operation, right down to the use of satellite-based 3D imagery to study the target before striking.
The case began on the night of July 9, when two homes in Ashok Nagar’s Arogda police station area were hit within hours of each other. One belonged to Akhilesh Pandey of Triveni Construction, who lost jewellery and cash worth close to ₹1.5 crore despite a security detail of roughly twenty guards. The other, belonging to Nishchit Kesari, saw an attempted break-in end in gunfire that left a bodyguard injured.
A Digital Blueprint for an Analogue Crime
What set the Ashok Nagar case apart, investigators say, was the planning behind it. During interrogation, the arrested accused allegedly revealed that gang leader Irfan, who goes by the aliases Ujale, Baba and Aryan, used satellite-based 3D images to study residential layouts, security arrangements and escape routes well before any theft was attempted, treating each target house less like a spontaneous opportunity and more like a mapped-out operation.
The gang travelled to Ranchi in a Jaguar worth around ₹80 lakh, checking into a local hotel using fake Aadhaar documents, according to police. Ranchi City SP Paras Rana said the group’s use of expensive vehicles and forged identity papers was deliberate, designed to blend into an upscale neighbourhood rather than draw the kind of suspicion a conventional break-in crew might attract.
Tracing the Money Through Two Wives
The breakthrough in the case came through the women in the accused men’s lives. Police arrested Gulshan Parveen, wife of gang leader Irfan and reportedly a local councillor, along with Shakeela alias Ladli, wife of co-accused Afroz. Investigators allege that after the theft, Afroz travelled to Sitamarhi in Bihar, summoned both women to a hotel, and handed over the stolen jewellery and cash for safekeeping.
The recoveries from the two women, ₹17.36 lakh in cash, a gold mangalsutra, a diamond set and three gold rings, gave police their first concrete trail back to the gang’s network. During questioning, Gulshan Parveen reportedly told investigators that money passed on by her husband had been used to fund election campaigns, a claim police are now examining alongside the possibility that stolen funds financed a wider set of activities. Irfan himself, along with Afroz and a third accused, Naveen Sharma of Siliguri, remains absconding.
A History-Sheeter’s Curated Reputation
The scale of Irfan’s criminal record has emerged as its own story within the investigation. Police say more than eighty cases are registered against him across thirteen districts spanning states including Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Telangana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Gujarat, with multiple prior arrests and jail terms behind him.
Within his own village, however, investigators say Irfan cultivated a very different image, reportedly funding road construction, contributing to wedding expenses for needy families, and arranging medical treatment and free health camps using proceeds from his criminal activities. That “Robin Hood” reputation, police believe, helped him retain local sympathy and cover even as his criminal footprint expanded across the country. With three main accused still at large and the SIT continuing its raids, investigators say the case may yet reveal a larger network tied to Irfan’s finances, including whether stolen wealth was funnelled into political campaigning beyond what has already surfaced.
