West Bengal: Two more cops arrested for Rs 1.5 crore robbery in Taltala

KOLKATA: The detective department on Friday arrested two more police personnel - Bengal Police ASI Joydeep Roy and Kolkata Police constable Ranveer Singh - for his alleged involvement in a robbery in Taltala where a trader and his two employees were robbed of Rs 1.5 crore. He is the third cop to be arrested in this case.
"We have arrested them after questioning the two other cops who have already been arrested. Both of them have been sent to police custody till November 16," said an officer.
Two other constables - one from 8th battalion of Kolkata Police and another from Special Branch of Kolkata Police - were arrested last month for being allegedly involved in the Taltala robbery in July. Incidentally, the 8th battalion constable, Amiya Upadhay, who served the force till 2015 and is presently under suspension and who masterminded and committed the dacoity, had been involved in other crimes too.
Upadhyay had earlier been arrested and a charge sheet against him has been submitted in the Kolkata Police constable recruitment scam case (in Hare Street PS). He is presently facing trial.
The fresh arrest means that as many as 11 cops - from Kolkata Police and Howrah City Police - have been arrested in the past six months for allegedly threatening traders and looting them or cheating unsuspecting citizens with fake job promises.
Three more cops - two constables and a civic volunteer from Ekbalpore Police - were arrested on Thursday for allegedly threatening and assaulting two employees of a forex company and looting Rs 33.3 lakh from them by confining them to a hotel room. The sleuths are investigating the past antecedents of the three cops arrested. "We are ascertaining if they have carried out similar operations in the past," said an officer.
A senior divisional officer said that prima facie, it seems, the accused were approached by three civilians to "act their part" and were promised good returns. "Though it seems that they were not part of the initial planning, they executed the crime - right from stopping the employees and even assaulting them at the hotel room. However, the chain of events has several gaps. We will get a cleared picture as the investigation progresses," said a police source.
In July, Special Branch constable Uttam Samanta was arrested for allegedly cheating several people by promising them either government jobs or even issuing licence to set up liquor shops.