LUCKNOW: Rae Bareli police, on Wednesday, busted an inter-state gang of frauds with the arrest of 23 persons, including 13 women from near the Kasrehla Pul area recovering the gold and ornaments worth Rs 18 lakh from their possession.

Sharing the information about the crackdown, Rae Bareli SP Dr Yashvir Singh said that the gang members basically from Hazaribagh of Jharkhand, used to operate in the guise of hawkers targeting middle-class households.

They used to offer exchange of old utensils with brand new ones for a pittance, said the SP.

Elaborating further on the modus operandi of the gang, he said that once winning the trust and confidence of the lady of the house, they used to offer better utensils or money in exchange for jewellery designs.

After getting the ornaments, they would flee the scene, said the SP. He added that the gang members arrested by the police had confessed to have targeted houses in multiple districts including state capital Lucknow, Barabanki, Pratapgarh, Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Kanpur, and Bhadohi.