BUDAUN: Dacoits dressed only in undergarments pulled off a string of robberies in two villages here, holding families hostage and beating women for cooking chicken, police said on Thursday.
In the early hours of Wednesday, armed intruders scaled the wall of farmer Nizakat's house in Mustafabad and held his family hostage.
When resisted, they assaulted the inmates, critically injuring six people, and decamped with four tolas of gold, three kilograms of silver, and Rs 1.25 lakh in cash.
The injured were referred to the district hospital.
According to the police, the robbers beat women also for keeping a chicken dish at home, and told them to eat only vegetables.
The bandits then targeted four more houses in adjoining Sithauli, stealing ornaments and cash.
Local authorities swung into action only late in the night after Bareilly Range DIG Ajay Kumar Sahni visited the houses and ordered immediate action.
Sahni said five teams had been deployed to investigate the robberies.
Earlier in the month, another gang with a similar minimalist style of clothing and modus operandi struck a residential area in Delhi.
On May 1, members of what was alleged to be 'kachcha-baniyan' gang broke into a house in south Delhi's Sarvodaya Enclave.
According to the police, the gang members climbed onto a balcony using a tree near the boundary wall adjoining the Vijay Mandal Park.
"They cut open the door lock using a cutter and entered the house. The residents were held hostage and locked inside a room before the accused ransacked the premises for nearly an hour," an officer said.
The gang made off with cash, jewellery and other valuables.
CCTV footage from the house showed three masked men wearing gloves and socks and carrying tools typically associated with the 'kachcha-baniyan' gang.
Days later, three of the gang's alleged members were arrested after a gunfight in the city's Ambedkar Nagar area.