Armed robbers looted gold, cash worth Rs. 6 crore from a gold finance firm in Navi Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.
According to the police, the incident occurred at around 3:30 p.m. at Popular Gold Finance Company in Seawoods. “Five men with handkerchiefs tied around their faces barged into the firm’s office armed with swords and handguns, and rounded all the employees into a corner. They forced the manager to give the keys to the locker, after which two of them emptied all the gold in the locker, which included jewellery and gold biscuits, into duffel bags. They also took close to Rs. 9 lakh in cash from the locker, after which they broke open the digital video recorder of the CCTV cameras in the firm. They took the hard drive with them before fleeing in a Maruti Swift car,” said an officer with the Seawoods police.
The firm’s manager informed the police and a wireless alert was sent out. A team of policemen reached the firm’s office, while nakabandis were set up across the city. However, there were no clues about the whereabouts of the accused till late on Saturday night.
CCTV cameras
Investigating officials said CCTV cameras in the area had captured the accused reaching the firm’s office and fleeing. “A passerby managed to note down the licence number of the car that the accused used. However, the number belongs to another car, and we suspect that the accused switched licence plates before using it in the robbery,” another officer said.
Armed robbery
The Seawoods police have registered a case of armed robbery against unidentified persons under the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act. Source said the possibility of insider involvement has not been ruled out as yet.
