After a vain attempt to nab the dacoits who looted about 5 kg gold and ₹2.5 lakh at gunpoint from goldsmiths of a jewellery workshop here, the city police sent teams to neighbouring districts and States on Wednesday.
“We even got some of their names, and it was an inter-State gang of professionals from Uttar Pradesh, Maharastra and others. After leaving the initial getaway vehicle on NH in Guntur, they have taken the NH and our teams, sent in six directions, are searching for them,” Commissioner of Police D. Gautam Sawang told reporters here.
At around 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday, eight persons wielding knives and pistols raided the jewellery workshop of Shankar Munna in a building on the Besant Road.
Easy access
After gaining easy access into the building whose entrance is narrow, the gang managed to confine all the workers to one place and empty the caskets having gold, jewellery and cash.
A bystander alerted the police, while the gang was heading to the getaway vehicle.
The city police chased the vehicle which sped towards Guntur, in vain, and alerted the Guntur police who also failed to stop it.
After crossing the Kaza toll plaza, the gang left the vehicle on the roadside and sped.
The police seized the vehicle and the belongings of the gang and found two bullets.
Mr. Shankar Munna told reporters he suspected it to be an insider’s job, as it was impossible for strangers to know the existence of the workshop and the availability of the gold. About 15 youth from West Bengal work for him.
No clear leads: police
“The angle of insider job or a tip off from a person familiar with the gang cannot be ruled out. The gang knew entire layout of the workshop and is familiar with the business,” Mr. Sawang said.
“Details of the workshop and its functioning could have been assessed by the offenders through a thorough recce,” DCP Gajarao Bhupal told The Hindu .
Mr. Sawang said the Chief Minister had reviewed the case and all efforts were on to apprehend the offenders. He said the police were verifying if the gang had links with dacoit gangs that committed similar offences in Visakhapatnam and Kurnool recently.
