The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) arrested notorious criminal Adarsh Singh Behda, mastermind behind a sensational Rs7 crore jewellery heist in Hooghly, West Bengal, along with his associate Suraj Seth. The arrests were made on September 23 near Gambhirpur toll plaza in Azamgarh district.
During the operation, the STF recovered Rs20 lakh in cash, 12 diamond rings, a gold ring, a diamond necklace, two mobile phones, and a newly purchased Bullet motorcycle bought with the looted money.
On August 3, 2025, six armed dacoits stormed the Sohan gold and diamond jewellery shop on Teen Mukherjee Road in Dankuni, Hooghly district. The gang assaulted customers and staff before looting 5-6 kg of gold and diamond jewellery worth around Rs7 crore in broad daylight. The incident caused panic among the local trading community, prompting a case under sections 310(2)/311 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Arms Act at Dankuni police station.
Investigations revealed the involvement of professional dacoits from Bihar and UP. The Chandannagar police commissionerate shared CCTV footage and intelligence with the UP STF, which launched a focused operation under Inspector Anil Kumar Singh of the STF Varanasi unit.
ASP Vinod Kumar Singh of STF traced Adarsh and Suraj to Azamgarh. “During interrogation, Adarsh confessed to planning the heist with accomplices from Bihar, including Bittu of Vaishali and Vinod Rai of Patna. The gang used stolen motorcycles and firearms provided by Bittu. After the robbery, they abandoned the motorcycles, fled in an SUV to Ranchi, and reached Varanasi. The looted jewellery was divided among gang members, with some pieces sold for lakhs of rupees,” said ASP Singh.
Police records show Adarsh as a dreaded dacoit specializing in jewellery robberies, with a criminal history spanning UP and Bihar. His cases include loot worth Rs76,000 in Jaunpur (2019), a shootout with STF (2021), a Rs50,000 robbery in Jaunpur (2022), and a 2024 armed robbery of 700 gm gold and 1 kg silver in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, among others. He faces charges of armed robbery, attempt to murder, gangsterism, and arms smuggling.
Adarsh is the nephew of the notorious criminal Deepak Singh Behda, killed in a police encounter in Varanasi years ago.
The accused have been lodged at Kerakat police station, Jaunpur, and presented before ACJM-III court. The Chandannagar police are coordinating for custody remand to further investigate the interstate gang and recover remaining loot.
STF sources say efforts are ongoing to track gang operatives still at large in Bihar, including Bittu and Vinod Rai.
