Special crack team for robbery cases

Tuesday’s violent dacoity, where armed goons snatched Rs 25 lakh from a bank’s employees at Goregaon and last week’s Rs 94-lakh jewellery heist at Borivli have provoked a reprisal from the police force. The special squad, set up today, will be headquartered at the Crime Branch office at Crawford market and will comprise a police inspector, five sub-inspectors and 15 constables. It will report to Assistant Commissioner of Police Pradeep Sawant, under the direct supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) K L Prasad and Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) R SSharma.

Instead of pounding a beat, the squad will focus on investigating thefts and using its intelligence network to ferret out information related to the crimes. It will therefore coordinate closely with the local police stations, which will continue to register offences.

Information with the local police will be relayed to the special squad, which will also visit the crime scene and interrogate suspects. The onset of the summer vacation, which usually registers a spurt in housebreaking, and a recent meeting of prominent jewellers with Police Commissioner R H Mendonca is the immediate provocation for setting up the squad, a senior police officer disclosed.

Says Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) K L Prasad, “The squad has also been formed as a challenge to detect the three recent dacoities.”Jewellers have been prime targets this year, with 17 shops being looted so far. Only three cases have been solved. In 40 instances, victims were either en route to either depositing or withdrawing moneyfrom the bank.

Police have nabbed 11 gangs from areas like Matunga, Nagpada, Borivli, Pantnagar, V P Road, and have found that the thieves were novices. They were mainly unemployed youths hailing from other states.

Police officers say that in most cases a person associated with the victim tips off the thieves. Another salient feature is that men and women aged between 45 and 60 have been targeted by persons impersonating officers. At times, suspended or expelled police constables are also found to beinvolved.

Also, crooks are increasingly switching from murder to theft as the latter is more lucrative. It is easier to decamp with a lakh of rupees whereas assailants in murder cases find a mere Rs 15,000 per case.