123 Kolkata: A group of six to seven men, their faces hidden behind helmets and masks, broke down a collapsible gate on the ground floor of a three-storey house at Nalta in Dum Dum early on Monday and robbed an elderly couple at knifepoint, makijng away with cash and jewellery worth several lakhs of rupees.
The incident came three days after a similar robbery on Central Avenue, where several lakhs of rupees and jewellery were looted from a house, where an elderly bedridden woman lived.
The house on Nalta Schoolbari Road under Ward 7 of Dum Dum Municipality belongs to a former state govt employee, Shankar Majumdar (74), who is also paralysed. He stayed on the second floor with his wife, Putul (70). Their only son, Debashis, works as a software engineer in Nasik. The ground floor is rented out, but was locked on Sunday night.
Police said the incident happened around 2.30 am as the gang broke THE collapsible gate and went straight upstairs. "I woke up, hearing a commotion, and got out of the bed to find out what the noise was about. Suddenly, some men, wearing helmets and masks and carrying bags on their shoulders, gagged me. Another man held a knife at my throat and threatened to slash me if I raised my voice," Putul said.
The men first took away her gold bangles, earrings and nose ring she was wearing and then, began rummaging through the almirahs and cupboards. "My husband has been bedridden for several years. I pleaded with them not to harm my husband. But the goons gagged him as well and then pressed a knife against his chest, too. I was so puzzled that I couldn't utter a word, even after the men left after half-an-hour of ransack," she said. It was only around 3.30 am that she could finally raise an alarm and call her neighbours.
The street's CCTV cameras captured images of the helmet-wearing robbers entering the house. Police said they studied the CCTV camera images and suspected the men were known to the elderly couple, that they knew the couple were alone at home, with the tenants being away.
"We have made a breakthrough after studying the CCTV footage and speaking to locals. We hope to catch the culprits soon. The men seemed to be known to the couple. The tenants are not outside the purview of investigation," said a senior officer of Barrackpore Police Commissionerate.