VASCO
Barely two days after a naval couple moved into a rented flat at Ranghavi Estate in Bogmalo, seven dacoits broke into their house and confined them, before fleeing with jewellery and cash worth Rs 5.75 lakh.
The dacoits also looted jewellery worth Rs 50,000 from another flat. According to the flat owner, Altaf Shaik, the new tenants, which included a naval couple and their relatives, took up the flat on the first floor on rent on Saturday.
“On Sunday evening, we went to Sakhali to our relative’s place and on Tuesday morning we received a call from our neighbours stating that seven unknown persons had entered our building and robbed our tenants,”
said Shaik.
“The moment we got the, call we rushed back to our flat, but found out that the police had already taken our tenants to the police station to record their statements,” he said.
Neighbours informed that all the seven dacoits were caught on the CCTV camera of another neighbour and that the footage had been given to the police.
Acting on the news, SP (South) Shekhar Prabhudessai, Mormugao DySP Dhinraj Govekar and Margao PI C L Patil rushed to the site to take the stock of the situation.
Officials from the forensic department and a police dog squad were also pressed into service to detect the crime.
According to police officials, the dacoits were armed with wooden clubs, knives and rope.
When contacted, Vasco PI Nolasco Raposo stated that the armed culprits had made their entry by breaking open the window of the ground floor and went to the first floor through an internal staircase.
“The culprits later unscrewed the grill of the kitchen window and entered the bedroom which was not locked from inside. Once inside the bedroom, the culprits tied the hands and legs of the naval couple and threatened them with dire consequences,” he said. “The couple pleaded the culprits not to harm them and to take whatever they wanted,” said PI Raposo.
He added that the culprits later untied them and warned the couple not to raise an alarm. “They threatened them to remain in the bedroom till 7 am and decamped with jewellery and cash from both the flats amounting to Rs 6.25 lakh,” PI Raposo added.
“With the help of the CCTV footage, we managed to identify some culprits and we have posted police personnel at all strategic locations, including bus stands and railway stations.” When brought to his notice that some residents of Ranghavi Estate had previously complained that there was no police patrolling in the area, PI Raposo assured patrolling in the area will be intensified.
