Hyderabad: A man and his gang of 11 men were arrested by the Hyderabad city police on Sunday, December 22, for dacoity and robbing gold worth Rs 1.2 crore from a gold merchant’s house in Hyderabad’s Domalguda region.
The arrests were made based on a complaint lodged by Ranjeet Ghorai, a native of West Bengal, who works as a gold merchant in the city.
The police recovered gold ornaments weighing 1.228 kg, silver ornaments weighing 616 grams brass weighing 2kg, Rs 2 lakh 90 thousand cash, one watch, a car, 13 mobile phones, and weapons including a lighter gun, a broad curve axe, 2 medium size axes, 2 knives, 6 big sickles from the arrested.
The arrested are identified as Indrajit Ghorai, 43, brother of the complainant Ranjeet, who is the main accused and the mastermind behind the dacoity. the other accused include Altaf Mohammed Khan, 23, Syed Irfan Ahmed, 44, Mohammed Noor Ullah, 40, Habeeb Hussain, 35, Shaik Shabbir, 46, Mohd Arbaaz, 25, Shoaib Khan, 22, Gulam Maqdum, 29, Shaik Osman, 24, Shaik Allauddin, 29, all residents of Hyderabad.
Three accused in the case, identified as Shahabaaz, Nazeerand and Zaheer remain at large, and police efforts to arrest them are underway.
According to the police, the complainant Ranjeet Ghorai and the main accused Indrajit Ghorai moved to Hyderabad a few years ago and have been doing gold business. While Ranjeet became prosperous with his business, Indrajit suffered losses and was in financial distress. This led to Indrajit growing a grudge and deciding to rob his brother, Ranjit, said the police in a statement.
Upon deciding to rob gold from his brother, Indrajit consulted his friends and associates in Hyderabad, Altaf Mohammed Khan and Syed Irfan Ahmed, who brought in more associates to conduct the dacoity.
Syed Irfan Ahmed brought in Habeeb Hussain, and even an advocate Norr Ullah for conspiring the crime without being caught.
While the advocate agreed to provide legal advice, Syed Irfan Khan brought in a real estate agent in the city, Shaik Shabbir, who brought in Mohammed Arbaz, a man with a criminal record, and his associates Shoaib Khan, Gulam Maqdum, Shaik Osman, Shaik Allauddin, Shahabaaz, Nazeer, and Zaheer too joined the dacoity gang.
They sourced weapons and a car for the transit during the crime, days ahead and got the number plates removed not to get detected by the police cameras.
During the night hours of December 12, the team headed by Arbaz and his henchmen left for Ranjit Ghorai’s residence, while Habeeb Hussain drove the car and Altaf waited near Aramghar Flyover to collect the stolen objects after the decoity.
Upon reaching Ranjit’s residence, the armed assailants headed by Arbaz were helped by Inidrajit to break in. The gang held Ranjit and his family hostage, threatened violently and caused injuries, and robbed the gold and other valuables stored in the house, before fleeing the scene in the car.
Domalguda Police, upon receiving the complaint from Ranjit, started the investigation by forming special teams, and on Sunday, 22 December, the Domalguda police, with the help of the commissioner’s task force arrested 12 accused and recovered the valuables. The total value of the recovered items was estimated at Rs 1.2 crore.
The arrested are charged under section 310(2) (Whoever commits dacoity shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
