A copy of a Mumbai-datelined newspaper, which cops recovered from a jewellery-making unit that was looted on March 6, provided vital clues which led to the apprehending of the alleged kingpin behind the dacoity.
“After recovering a newspaper from the spot and analysing footage from some 300 surveillance cameras in and around the scene of offence, we concluded that it was a Mumbai-based interstate gang that looted the jewellery making unit here,” Hyderabad City Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar said here on Thursday.
Within 10 days after a gang made off with over 3.5 kg of gold during a daylight dacoity from the jewellery making unit in Petlaburj, the city police on Thursday claimed that they had solved the case with the arrest of the alleged mastermind, identified as Amjad Khwaha Ameen Shaik alias Amja (41), a resident of Thane in Maharashtra.
He was arrested and brought to city on Thursday. Police seized gold and other gems worth ₹ 6 lakh from his possession.
10 persons involved
According to the Commissioner 10 persons were involved in the dacoity. The gang had entered the premises in groups and after looting the jewellery at knife-point, had shared the booty and went their separate ways by different modes of transport, he explained.
The arrested was also involved more than 40 offences, including several robberies and dacoities in Maharashtra and other States, he said.
Shaik had put together the gang and conducted several rounds of recce on the jewellery making unit owned by a Mumbai-based Bengali businessman, Nitya Das, before looting it. Mr Das’ jewellery shop in West Thane, is hardly 5 km from Shaik’s residence.
The police said that he had kept a close watch on Das’s business and decided to loot his workshop in Hyderabad, which was in a locality where 600 such jewellery making units operate.
Smooth operator
The arrested has a well-oiled set up. “Soon after the arrest, their advocates will file the habeas corpus petitions/ writ petitions or missing cases in the courts and also approach the Human Rights Commission,” Mr. Kumar said.
Police sources said that the accused came to the city by train on the same day and dispersed soon after the offence. The Commissioner said adding that 17 teams, including five Task Force teams and one team of technical experts, were working round-the-clock to nab others involved in the case.
