6 arrested for Rs 64 lakh gold robbery

It has been found that one Thanaram,a resident of Nikol area in Ahmedabad,had planned the loot along with his friends when he came to know that Devasi was on his way to Ahmedabad to buy gold.

Acting on a tip-off,the DCB kept trap at Kalupur Railway Station where Thanaram was to come. During his checking,the DCB found 400 grams of gold piece worth Rs 6 lakh from his possession.

During the interrogation,Thanaram revealed that the gold piece was part of the gold bars robbed from Devasi on February 10. He revealed the names of five others to the police who were going to meet at Thakkarbapa Nagar to get their share from the looted gold.

Based on his information,the DCB raided the spot and arrested all the five persons — Himmat Gohil (33),a constable from Ghatlodia police station and a resident of Naranpura in Ahmedabad,Bhavesh Mehta (26),a resident of Junagadh,Baldev Badodia (25) of Surendranagar,Pravin Makwana (33) of Bavla in Ahmedabad and Dinesh Mali,a resident of Gandhinagar and native of Jhalor in Rajasthan.

The police seized 300 grams of gold from Bhavesh,275 grams from Baldev,600 grams from Pravin,1 kilogram from Himmat and 1 kilogram from Dinesh. Gold worth Rs 56,27,000 was seized from the accused at Thakkarbapa Nagar.

The police also seized tools including knives and hammers that were used in the crime.

The victim,Devasi,often travelled to Ahmedabad to purchase gold. On February 10,he purchased 4 kg of gold worth Rs 64 lakh and when he was checking out from the Rukshmani Hotel at Kalupur,two men,wearing police uniform,approached him and introduced themselves as city police officers.

They told him they wanted to check him at the police station. They forced him to sit with them on a motorcycle and took him to place near the Koba Circle and absconded with his bag containing gold.