BETTIAH, June 6 -- A police team from West Bengal which reached East Champaran in search of nine thieves, arrested a member of the infamous shutter-katwa gang involved in the robbery of jewellery from a shop in Bardhaman, West Bengal and seized looted jewellery, including diamond rings from his possession at a village in East Champaran on Thursday evening. The latest in a series of thefts reported across the country, the robbery of jewellery worth Rs.2 crore by nine thieves - all allegedly from East Champaran - has turned the spotlight on the notorious 'shutter-katwa' gang of the district. According to police, the gang originated in the mid-1980s as a small group of thieves. Over the years, however, it expanded steadily as the lure of easy money drew more criminals into its fold. Confirming the arrest, Jharokhar police station's station house officer (SHO), Md. Aslam Ansari, said the accused, identified as Roman Kumar Yadav alias Rajesh Yadav, was apprehended from Bishunpur village under the jurisdiction of the police station at around 7 pm on Friday. "In all, six diamond rings and a gold chain were recovered from his possession," the SHO said, adding that the looted jewellery was set to be taken to Nepal for disposal. The arrest came after a three-member police team from West Bengal's Bardhaman police station reached East Champaran in search of nine members of the 'shutter-katwa' gang in connection with Case No. 582/26, related to the robbery of jewellery from a showroom in Bardhaman on May 20, 2026. "All nine thieves are from three locations in East Champaran," the SHO said, adding that the West Bengal Police had taken the arrested individual on transit remand on Friday. Sources in the police said that 'shutter-katwa' groups with 100 members, a majority of them drawn from Jharokhar, Ghorasahan and neighbouring villages are active at several places across the country whose modus operandi is relatively simple. Gang members first conduct reconnaissance of a targeted shop during the day and later break-in the shop under the cover of darkness and flee with the valuables. They sell their articles in Nepal markets and often take refuge in Nepal or in the villages along the Indo-Nepal border. Locally known as the shutter-katwa (shutter-cutter) gang, at least 100 youths of Jharokhar and Ghorasahan have reportedly been arrested from Deharadun, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Surat, Gurgaon and other places of Punjab, Haryana, Orissa and Maharastra in past few years. People familiar with the Shutter-Katwa gang's modus operandi said its members communicate using a distinct coded language and jargons. Haldi (turmeric) denotes gold, chuna (lime) refers to silver, petti (box) means cash, pen stands for a screwdriver, and master is used to refer to the police in their lexicon....