Criminals entered the apartment of a government official in upscale SK Puri and looted at will after holding the family hostage at gunpoint for over an hour on Wednesday evening.
The raid has yet again brought into focus the impunity with which gangs are tormenting the state's residents and also raised questions about policing in the Bihar capital.
Around 8.30pm on Wednesday, the robbers barged into the Ashirvad Apartment flat of Yashpal, a government servant, looted cash and ornaments and then escaped with ease. The building is located in posh SK Puri area, about 200 metres north of the busy Boring Road and around 500 metres north of Hartali Mor. Even the SK Puri police station is just a stone's throw away from the apartment building.
Yashpal is posted as sub-registrar at Dhaka in Sikrahna sub-division of East Champaran district. He was at his place of posting, which is around 185km northwest of Patna, when the crime took place.
Interestingly, the robbers came in the guise of well wishers. "One of the three robbers knocked on the door of the flat (No. 201) with a nosegay in hand. Yashpal's relative Ankit (30) opened the door, and told the man that Yashpal was not at home. But the man at the entrance just walked in stating he wanted to wish Yashpal a happy new year. Two persons, who had been lurking behind, followed him in," SK Puri police station house officer Sanjay Kumar Verma saidwhile sharing details.
Once inside, the trio got into the act. They took the inmates hostage at gunpoint demanding money and valuables. Also present was Ratan Kumar, a private tutor engaged for Yashpal's 11-year-old son Shail. Ratan too was not spared and the robbers snatched Rs 5,000 which he was carrying.
The robbers snatched ornaments of Yashpal's wife Suruchi Sonal which she had on her body. "The robbers," police sources said, "remained well behaved throughout their stay in the house and they kept telling the inmates that they were committing the crime out of compulsion."
The sources added that they refused to take the gold locket of Ankit when they saw the image of a deity on the locket stating that they could not touch such things.
Suruchi, who refused to speak saying she was not in a frame of mind to interact with strangers, was making coffee for the tutor when the robbers barged in. She was forced to prepare more coffee as the robbers too wanted to have some. "Not only this they also ate sweets and fruits that had been kept in the refrigerator," said a police source.
Police officers are flummoxed by the style of the robbery, which they said was new for Patna. "We are quizzing building guard Sonu Jha as he has been claiming that he neither saw the robbers entering the building nor did he see them coming out. The men had used the stairs to reach the second floor of the condominium," Sachivalaya DSP Amrendra Kumar said, adding that robbers had also taken away an ATM card, which was with Suruchi and had forced her to reveal the PIN.
Central range DIG Shalin said the sketch of the robbers had been made on the basis of statements of the victims. He added that while one of the robbers was in his 20s, the remaining two were in their 30s.
Shalin said instructions had been issued to the investigating officer to obtain footage of the CCTV installed on the Boring Road adjacent to the apartment. While two robbers were equipped with country-made pistols, the third one was carrying a knife with him.
The police said the apartment did not have any CCTV camera. "Only a few apartments in the city avail this facility," rued SK Puri SHO Verma.
Efforts to contact Yashpal on his cellphone proved futile.
Guard Jha told the police that he opened the door of Yashpal's flat on the second floor after the family members shouted for help. "By the time I could understand what happened with the family, the robbers had escaped with a bag containing the looted jewellery and other valuables," he told the police.
The incident has proved that even apartments are not safe in the capital. Rajiv Singh, a close associate of Mokama MLA Anant Singh, was gunned down in his Shiv Vishnu Apartment flat at Anandpuri in December 2013.
Morning firing
Panic prevailed in the Kankerbagh area following indiscriminate firing by motorbike-borne criminals in the early hours of Thursday. Police said two youths riding a motorbike opened fire in front of a medicine shop owned by one Akhileshwar Nath.
The police added that the reason behind the firing was yet to be ascertained.
