MAPUSA
Two days after the daring dacoity at the bungalow of a doctor couple in Ganeshpuri, Mapusa, Goa Police have reportedly arrested three suspects linked to the high-profile robbery.
Sources said the trio was nabbed from two different locations – Bengaluru and Hyderabad – and are being brought to Goa for further interrogation.
The arrests mark a major breakthrough in the investigation into the shocking crime that left the State on edge.
At least six persons were involved in the pre-dawn dacoity, during which the gang held Dr Mahendra Ghanekar, his wife Dr Anuradha, their 14-year-old daughter and Dr Ghanekar’s 80-year-old mother hostage at knifepoint before escaping with jewellery and cash worth nearly Rs 50 lakh.
A joint operation by the Crime Branch and Mapusa Police – involving forensic analysis, local intelligence and interstate tracking – led to the arrests. Two police teams had earlier been dispatched to the Maharashtra and Karnataka borders to trace the suspects.
On Wednesday, investigators also questioned a Goan taxi driver allegedly hired by the robbers to transport them to Belagavi after the heist. The vehicle used in the escape was examined by forensic experts for possible evidence.
Despite reports of the arrests, senior police officials have remained tight-lipped.
“No one is nabbed. All the news about arrests are false,” DySP Wilson D’Souza said when contacted.
The incident occurred between 3 am and 5 am on Tuesday when a group of masked men, armed with knives and iron rods, broke into the Ghanekar residence by cutting open a window grill.
The robbers fled with valuables, four mobile phones and the family’s car, which was later found abandoned under the Mandovi bridge in Panjim.
The chilling incident has sparked deep concern in the upscale Ganeshpuri locality, home to several doctors and professionals and has prompted police to intensify patrolling and surveillance in the area.
