PANAJI
A daring midnight attempt to break into a jewellery shop at Chaudi, Canacona, was foiled after the alert goldsmith living adjacent to the shop raised an alarm, prompting a police night patrol to rush to the spot.
The family claimed that around 6-7 unidentified culprits tried to gain entry into the shop around 2:30am. The gang is reported to have blackened three CCTV camera lenses using black spray paint and broken three locks in an attempt to open the shop shutter.
Two patrolling policemen who arrived in response to the alert managed to corner the suspects. However, the accused pelted stones at them and escaped under the cover of darkness.
Police launched massive search operations through the night at the railway station, bus stand and other exit points but failed to trace the gang. A forensic team and a dog squad were pressed into service, but no significant lead has emerged so far.
The incident comes amid a spate of robberies and dacoities across the State. Earlier this month, the accused in the armed dacoity at Baina remain at large despite assurances from police of treating the case as a challenge. The Dona Paula and Mapusa–Ganeshpuri dacoities also remain unsolved, with police suspecting the involvement of a Bangladeshi gang whose members are likely to have fled the country. Several other break-ins have been reported in the recent past.
With the modus operandi in the latest incident showing similarities, police said they are examining whether the same gang or another organised group is behind the attempted robbery.
