12 Kolkata: A robbery was reported from inside the office of a production house on the fifth floor of a building on Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road— not too far from Park Street — on Tuesday evening. The incident, briefly reported in TOI, occurred after a man who came to the office to collect cash was assaulted. On Wednesday evening, two persons were detained in this connection.
The amount snatched is estimated to be around Rs 7 lakh. But cops claimed the victims have not been able to show a loss above Rs 3 lakh. Sources said the operation was completed in eight minutes and then the accused fled.
Cops and locals said three men wearing helmets entered the office and snatched the money before escaping in different directions.
Talking to TOI, Harith Ratna (48) — the owner of the company — said he has been operating this office for 25 years but such a crime has been reported in this building for the first time. "One of my employees was in the office when Alok Kumar Badani (43) came to my office around 7.30 pm to collect money. This was an immediate requirement. He collected the money — Rs 7.3 lakh — and was offered tea by my employee. It was then that three men entered the office and asked Badani to hand over the money. When he refused, one of them claimed he was carrying a knife. He assaulted Badani and threatened him with dire consequences. When Badani let go of the money, they took it and fled," Ratna said.
Locals said they heard a commotion and tried to intervene. "We found two men fleeing the spot. One ran towards New Market and the other towards Park Street," said Santosh Desai, a witness.
"A case was filed at Park Street PS. Badani, of Raja Santosh Road in Chetla, said the accused robbed him at 5.22 pm," said joint CP (crime & traffic) Rupesh Kumar.
The cops said footage from CCTV cameras have provided leads. footages have been recovered and leads gained. "While prima facie, it seems like a case of snatching, we are also probing the extortion angle. A possible personal rivalry of the victim with the accused is also being probed. Badani and the other employee are being interrogated as we want to tie up loose ends," said an officer. He added that the accused knew of Badani's arrival and that he would be carrying cash, suggesting an insider angle. DC (South) Priyobrata Roy said no gun was used to threaten the victim, as claimed by locals.