Beggar gang kingpin nabbed in Lonavala

AHMEDABAD: City crime branch sleuths on Monday nabbed Betab alias Shivam Salat, 40, from Lonavala in Maharashtra, who is allegedly the kingpin of a ‘beggar gang’. Betab would allegedly kidnap children from various cities and small towns in Gujarat. They would then allegedly put the children into begging on city streets.
The women’s police cell in the city had earliler arrested Betab's mother Anandi Salat, Sampat Salat and sons Anand, Inesh and Rajesh from their house in Vatva and rescued 20 girls including two minors.
JCP crime branch J R Muthaliya said Betab had to be arrested as this was a case of child trafficking. “We kept watch at his house in Vatva and from local sources got intelligence that he was at Lonavala,” added Muthaliya.
DCP Deepan Bhadran said a team led by Inspector J N Chavda was dispatched to Lonavala. “With the help of local police he was nabbed. During his interrogation it emerged he was the kingpin of the racket,” added Bhadran.