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| Gold thief Abu Faizal in Patna on Monday. Picture by Jai Prakash |
Patna, Sept. 26: A Madhya Pradesh police team today brought a gold thief from Mumbai to the state capital to investigate a robbery case.
Sources said Abu Faizal, the thief, had robbed 12kg gold from a non-banking financial firm in Bhopal on August 23, 2010. A policeman was murdered in the course of the robbery.
After giving the Bhopal police the slip, Faizal came to the Bihar capital. He sold off a part of his booty at small jewellery shops in the city.
The Madhya Pradesh police team, led by Umashankar Tiwary, an officer from Bhopal-based Hanumanganj police station, raided some of the shops today.
A source said a jeweller from Dharokhi Gali under Pirbhore police station had been taken into custody by the cop team. Faizal had allegedly sold a part of the loot to the jeweller.
But the city cops denied any arrest. City central superintendent of police (SP) Shivdeep Lande said: “The team did not have any arrest warrants. They questioned some jewellery shop owners with the help of Patna police. They have come here only to investigate, and have made no arrests.”
According to the source, a few members of Bhopal Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) accompanied the police team to the city. They suspected Faizal had links with the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (Simi). But the city police denied it. “No member of ATS is accompanying the police team from Bhopal,” said Lande.
He added: “The Madhya Pradesh police team reached Pirbhore police station this morning. They are investigating a robbery case that occurred in Bhopal last year. Faizal hails from Mumbai. But he has no link with Simi.”
The SP added that the team from Madhya Pradesh did not have many essential documents needed to conduct the investigation. “The team did not have any warrant with them. Also, the crime happened in August 2010. However, the representatives of the shops that the team visited today claimed that they had opened their business only a few weeks ago.”
Lande added: “We have helped them and will continue to do so.”
