Investigators were shocked to see that the portrait of one of the robbers, drawn based on the victim's description, matched the appearance of a tainted cop who had been suspended over cheating cases
Cops suspect the hand of a tainted, suspended cop behind the Bandra heist case, where the car belonging to a Kalbadevi-based courier company, containing valuables worth more than Rs 6 crore, was robbed by men who passed as cops (‘Fake police make away with valuables worth Rs 3 crore’, MiD DAY, November 16).
Breakthrough? (Left) The sketches of the two accused; the man on the right was wearing a constable’s uniform. Cops suspect him to be a suspended police officer and the mastermind of the heist
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The incident
The incident occurred on Thursday night, when workers of Sai Couriers, were transporting 60 bags of valuables to the airport for an 11.30 am flight. The valuables included gold, silver, diamond ornaments and imitation jewellery. Four workers, including manager Amitkumar Saini, had kept the bags in a Maruti Swift, like every day. As the vehicle reached the Western Express Highway over the railway tracks in Bandra, a taxi intercepted it. Four men got out of it -- two dressed in police uniforms and two in civilian attire. Of the two ‘policemen’, one was wearing the uniform of a sub-inspector and the other of a constable. By the end of the encounter, the ‘cops’ had made away with the valuables, leaving the victims in the taxi.
Escape route
During investigations, the police found the car abandoned in Dharavi, and suspected that the accused had moved towards Sion. They have now drawn up a team of ten officers and several constables to crack the case. An officer from Bandra police station said, “The valuables have been estimated to amount to Rs 6 crore and we are still counting.”
The real picture
Cops decided to get sketches made of the accused, on the basis of the description provided by the victims. As the portraits started materialising, the investigating team was shocked to see that one of the men looked uncannily similar to a cop who had been suspended earlier.
An officer said, “The accused in constable’s dress almost looks like one of the suspended cops, who has been involved in several cheating cases. In fact, the police are on the lookout for him.
He added, “The manner in which the crime was executed indicates that it could not have been done by an ordinary gang. It was highly studied and committed well, leading us to suspect the involvement of the suspended cop. It is interesting that while he was an inspector, he posed as a constable to commit the crime, while his accomplice posed as an officer.”
A senior officer confirmed the development and said, requesting anonymity: “We are going through all the cops who are suspended and trying to match them with the sketches.”u00a0
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