Jamshedpur: Looters do recce before every crime

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur, Feb 21: Police investigation into the recent incidents of loot has revealed that these crimes are not random or unplanned. Instead, the crimes were committed as per well laid out plans, sources said.

Sources in the department said all the three loots at Bistupur, Sakchi and Baradwari were carried out by multiple teams of criminals. “The way the crimes have been committed, it appears that the criminals have well studied their targets before going for them. The gangs have performed reconnaissance of the daily route taken by the unsuspecting victims and then planned the crimes to succeed in their designs,” said a senior police official.

In the most recent crimes, two motorcycle-borne criminals looted a gold chain worth Rs 4 lakh from one Nisha Nagelia, resident of Bistupur, around 10 pm Sunday last. The loot happened at Baradwari under Sakchi police station area. Cops suspect the criminals must have kept a watch on the victim and noted her activities before taking a shot.

Sources further said similar modus operandi was obvious in the cash loot of Rs 32 lakh from the two staff of Chhaganlal Dayaljee Sons jewelry showroom at Gajraj Mansion, Bistupur, on 14^th February last. The criminals made away with the whopping cash within a few minutes at the crowded marketplace. The jewelry showroom staff routinely came to the bank to deposit huge cash. On the day of crime, they had come to deposit the cash at Canara Bank. But they had not even the slightest idea that they were being watched by the culprits, sources said.

In the Sakchi loot incident, criminals took away gold ornaments worth Rs 10 lakh from the two staff of a hallmarking centre around 4.30 pm. Here too, the criminals knew well that the victims were carrying gold ornaments. The looters succeeded in laying their hands on 208 grams of gold ornaments by knowing in advance the contents of bags being carried by the victims.

Meanwhile, city police have made public the CCTV footage of the gold loot incident of Sakchi and sought clues from the public to detect the crime. They are looking for Kodha gang of Katihar (Bihar) known for their peculiar modus operandi. Earlier, the gang members targeted victims by throwing itching powder or dirt on their clothes or open body parts. But now the gang is either attacking victims or posing as police officers, sources said.