Kolkata: Cops snatch Rs 30 lakh from forex firm staff, held

KOLKATA: Two constables and a civic volunteer from Ekbalpore police station were arrested, along with three civilians, for threatening two employees of a forex company while they were carrying Rs 33.3 lakh in cash to deposit it at a local bank on Wednesday.
The accused first forced the company officials to accompany them to a nearby hotel room and snatched the money. Both employees - Md Arbaaz (21) and his colleague Gulrez Khan (25) - were then brought to Ekbalpore police station where an attempt was made to implicate them in a false case, claimed senior Lalbazar officers.
The port division headquarters and Lalbazar officers probing the case said the accused have been identified as constable Prabhat Bera, constable Swapan Kumar Biswas and civic volunteer Toton Sk. The civilians arrested are Sheikh Chand (42), Sk Ashraf Illahi alias Saif and Akbar Hossain alias Rabi.
The three cops along with Toton have been identified as the prime accused. According to joint CP (crime) Murlidhar Sharma, the two employees work at Holliland Forex and Travels Pvt Ltd having its office at Bhukailash Road (Babu Bazar). It deals with money exchange and international travel.
The employees, claimed senior officers, were initially in deep shock and did not explain the entire chain of events to the OC and senior cops of Ekbalpore PS. Later, the directors of the company came to the police station and the entire incident was narrated to the officers, said DC Kidwai.
"The cops were arrested along with Toton and two more accused persons, Illahi and Akbar. An amount of Rs 30 lakh has been seized from their possession. They were produced in a local court on Thursday where cops sought their police remand," said Sharma.