Dacoity at jewellery shop: Another accused nabbed from Bihar
Siliguri: The Siliguri police have arrested another accused in connection with the broad daylight dacoity case at a renowned jewellery shop located on Hill Cart Road in Siliguri. The accused has been identified as Mohammad Ahesan (37 years), a resident of Boram in Darbhanga district of Bihar. The accused was apprehended from his residence and brought to Siliguri and presented at Siliguri Court on Thursday.
According to police sources, one of the previously arrested criminals had made repeated calls to Ahesan on June 20, just days before the robbery took place. However, no stolen items were recovered from his possession.
The robbery, which was carried out on June 22 by a gang of eight armed miscreants, included two women. Disguised as customers, the criminals entered the jewellery shop, tied up the staff and security personnel at gunpoint and looted approximately 10 kilograms of gold, diamond and platinum jewelry — valued at around Rs 11 crore — before fleeing the scene. Following the incident, two gang members were swiftly apprehended with the help of traffic police and weapons were recovered from them.
Meanwhile, Ahesan’s family has come forward to claim his innocence, stating that he worked in school bags manufacturing factory in Delhi and had no links to any criminals.
Investigators have also revealed that the robbers had rented homes in areas under Phansidewa Police Station prior to executing the crime. A special police team is working to track down the other absconding gang members. In the past few days, criminal activities have increased in the city. Within a short span, several criminal incidents occurred in the city including an ATM robbery, followed by the jewellery shop dacoity. On Wednesday, a theft took place in Sukantapally area in Siliguri where miscreants allegedly sprayed chemicals on the family members and looted Rs 40,000 in cash and some gold jewellery. On Wednesday night, miscreants snatched a gold chain from a woman in Haiderpara. A similar incident happened on Thursday morning in Shantinagar area. In both cases, miscreants came on motorbikes and snatched jewellery. In response to the surge in criminal activities, the Siliguri Metropolitan Police have launched a public awareness campaign by putting up posters across the city.
These posters list emergency contact numbers including: General Police Helpline: 7872707733 / 9147889607 / 100. Women’s Helpline: 112 / 7001310127. This initiative comes in light of public complaints that emergency services were unresponsive during the recent ATM robbery in the Champasari area. Police have assured that the new numbers will be operational 24/7 to enhance public safety and response times.
