Fake cops loot elderly couple of lakhs in Sonari, police nab three suspects

Jamshedpur, March 6: Incidents of thefts and burglaries are suddenly on the rise in the steel city. As many as 15 cases of theft and burglary have been reported in and around the city during the February-March period.

Close on the heels of a gang of robbers swooping over a residential flat at New Baradwari posing them as a courier boysa week ago, another gang of armed robbers guised as cops and fled with cash and jewelry worth over Rs 15 lakh from a residential flat at Sonari last night.

The robbery at Sonari took place in an apartment located at Adarsh Nagar housing colony (Phase VII) on Saturday. The house where the criminals swooped is on the third floor and belongs to Tapan Chatterjee, a retired Tata Steel employee.

�We are in state of shock. As we opened the door, the man with the police cap said they have a search warrant as they have information that we have given shelter to a criminal known as Jitendra Singh.

But the moment we asked him to show the search warrant and his I-card, three more men, all aged between 40 to 30 years, entered the house and bolted the door from inside,” narrated his wife Sushama.

Sushama, who retired from Tata Main Hospital, said “All the four men took out pistols from their trousers and took both of us under control, threatening to fire if we argued about their search any further.

Then one of the robbers moved around the flat, asking where we have hid Jitendra and after returning to the hall, he demanded that we open the safe, claiming that we have hidden Jitenrdra’s pistol in it,” said the elderly woman.

The woman said the robbers stayed at their house for over 45 minutes and fled the scene at 9.45 p.m. She said then somehow they managed to untie their hands and informed a neighbor, who immediately informed the police.

Officer-in-charge Sonari police station, Suman Anand was the first to arrive at the spot. Subsequently, SP (City) Chandan Jha, senior SP Anoop T Mathew, and deputy superintendents of police, Amar Pandey and KN Mishra also reached the spot for inspection.

When the robbery took place, a private security guard was posted at the gate of the Adarsh Nagar Phase VII, but he said he did not get any indication of the crime.

DSP (headquarters-II) Amar Pandey claimed that the same gang which had struck at New Baradwari on February 29 is behind the robbery at Sonari.

“The probe is on. We have picked up two-three men suspected to be involved in the robbery at Adarsh Nagar. So far no concrete clue has been established, but we are hopeful that the gang will be busted soon,” said Pandey.