Panaji: 3 pose as policemen, rob man, fire gun in air, held

PANAJI: Mapusa police on Thursday arrested three on the charge of robbery and firing a gun in the air. The three accused restrained Naved Shaikh of Bicholim near Syndicate Bank in Mapusa and assaulted him.
The incident occurred early Thursday morning while Shaikh was returning home from work on his two-wheeler, police said.
The trio, James Souza from Duler, Vinayak Somji, from Madel-Tivim and Williams Rodrigues from Ansabhat in Mapusa, identified themselves as narcotics cops, threatened Shaikh and stole his belongings, including a helmet, police said.
The trio were arrested immediately after Shaikh filed a complaint.
“The car that the three travelled in has been seized as also the gun and empty cartridges that were collected from the crime scene,” SDPO Mapusa Jivba Dalvi said.
An Investigation to find out in whose name the gun is registered is under way. Souza also has previous criminal complaints against him, police said.
The offence against the trio has been registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well the Arms Act. Further investigation is being conducted under the supervision of SP North Shobit Saxena.