‘I-T raid’: Police hope to nab remaining four soon

KOCHI: Even after the police issued a lookout notice against four persons who robbed an Aluva native of around 300g of gold and Rs 1.8 lakh posing as income tax officials, the accused remain elusive. The notice was issued against Haris, 52, Abootty, 42, both natives of Sankaranellur in Kannur, Abdul Hameed, 42, of Pachapoika in Kannur and Davi Diaz, 36, of Mangor Hill in Goa. Ernakulam Rural police had arrested Habibul Sheikh, 36, of Goa in connection with the case on June 10. Though the police officers said they have got evidence about the robbery and co-accused from Habibul, but the remaining accused are still on the run. 

Besides, mystery still surrounds the reasons for the gang to target the house of the person who undertook gold design works. The police are also looking into the links of the house owner, Sanjay, a Maharashtra native living at Aluva and involved in jewellery works.

“A probe is under way and the accused will be nabbed soon,” said a top official. The gang members dispersed after reaching Mangaluru around midnight on June 5 after the operation. The Goa natives left for their native place. However, there is no clue where the remaining accused had fled to. The five-member gang reached the house of Sanjay at Aluva around 11am on June 5 and “raided” it for nearly one-and-a-half hours.

The gang members told Sanjay and family not to make phone calls and showed fake identity cards on their phones to make them believe that they were I-T officers. They then searched the house and “seized” the ornaments.The three Keralite members of the gang had prepared the plot and executed the robbery while the Goa natives only assisted them, said the police.