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NEW DELHI: Members of a criminal gang from Bangladesh , who were on dacoity spree across Delhi and seven other states of India, were caught by the crime branch on Friday.

The men would break into houses at upscale colonies, hold the residents at knife point and tie them to chairs or lock them up in a room. They would then rob them of their belongings and flee across the border. When in India, they would set up bases in forest areas around cities to avoid surveillance.

DCP (crime) Dr G Ram Gopal Naik said that the men — Kamrul, Shahidul Islam and Nazrul — were all residents of Bagerhat in Bangladesh. In the past six months, they targeted at least half a dozen houses in NCR. “A team was formed after we noticed a pattern in the incidents. All the incidents took place during late nights and were executed by a gang of seven to eight members. Probe indicated the role of a gang from Bangladesh, so a team was formed to track them,” said Naik.

During the probe it was also found that they had targeted houses in Bhuvneshwar, Dharwad, Lucknow, Agra, Bangalore and Goa using the same modus operandi. One of them had apparently entered India through the Malda border, while the other two had passports.

On Friday, the police team laid a trap near the Sarai Kale Khan bus stop based on an information and nabbed the three kingpins of the gang. As per information on the passports, Kamrul had visited India eight times since July 2017, while Sahidul visited India thrice using his visa. Nazrul entered illegally after paying a broker in Bangladesh Rs 5,000. After committing the crimes, the gang members would immediately leave for Bangladesh.

