Goons on bike fire in air, loot Bagha Jatin traders of Rs 3.8L
Times of India | 20 July 2023
KOLKATA: Two armed men, travelling on a bike with their faces covered with helmets and masks, allegedly robbed two brothers of Rs 3.8 lakh in south Kolkata’s Bagha Jatin in the wee hours of Thursday. The two fired in the air while fleeing with the two bags of looted money.
The victims — traders Gopal Kundu and Kamal Kundu alias Bapi, both local residents — claimed that the incident took place around 12.40am on Baghajatin Station Road when they were returning home along with three employees. Cops said the victims might have been followed by the bikers. “We suspect insider hand,” said a detective department officer, who’s probing the case along with Patuli PS.
According to police, Gopal ran a grocery store close to the auto stand near Baghajatin station. He had recently decided to start a bakery business, too. His brother Kamal runs another store near Panchasayar. The two are the eldest of four brothers.
“On Wednesday night, Kamal had shut his shop and come to meet Gopal, part of their routine when they carry a large amount of cash with them. Since Gopal is also a wholesaler, his transactions used to be high. The duo and their employees shut the shop and were walking towards the station when the bikers stopped them. The accused asked them to hand over the money. When they resisted, they pulled out a firearm and threatened them. After snatching the bags full of cash, the accused fired in the air and fled from the spot,” said a senior officer.
Joint CP (crime) Shankha Shubhra Chakrabarty said police have recovered the shell of the bullet. “There was one round of firing,” he said. DC (Jadavpur) Bidisha Kalita said they were recording the statements of the victims. “Everyone present is being questioned. CCTV footages are being scanned,” she said.
Detective department sources said the victims claimed in the FIR that they lost Rs 3.8 lakh. “Initially, they had claimed a loss of Rs 70,000. We are ascertaining why there was a mismatch,” claimed a source.
“Last year in July, a 37-year-old woman who was returning home after closing her cosmetics shop in Patuli was attacked by a man who later snatched her gold chain. We are looking at those links,” an officer said.
“It happened at a place that becomes desolate after 10 pm. The victims, being locals, could have avoided walking down with so much cash with them,” said Sanmoy Roy, a retired professor from the area.