Eight armed men who spoke "very good" English barged into a house, tied up residents and fled with gold worth almost Rs 10 lakh and Rs 55,000 in cash early on Thursday.
Coming just two days after chief minister Nitish Kumar read the riot act on crime, the incident exposes the real face of policing in Patna.
The men, in their mid-20s, broke the lock of the back door of businessman Shashi Agarwal's house in Doctor's Colony area under Patrakar Nagar police station and barged in armed with knives and iron rods. The incident took place around 3am, said the police. "There were five people at home when the criminals got in. Shashi was asleep with his wife Khushboo and son Priyanshu on the first floor of the house while two servants were sleeping in a room on the ground floor. Some of the men, aged 20-25 years, had their mouths covered. The family members said the intruders began beating up the servants and then entered Shashi's bedroom. They used his wife's many dupattas, stacked in the cupboards, to tie up and gag the whole family," an officer at the Patrakar Nagar police station said.
The family were in a state of shock. The police said the men ransacked the house for riches. "According to the family, the intruders kept abusing them and threatening them with dire consequences if they tried anything smart. The men mostly spoke in English among themselves. This gives the police an idea the gang could be students," Patna SP Jitender Rana said.
Sources said the criminals were around for almost an hour during which they collected ornaments worth almost Rs 10 lakh and cash worth Rs 55,000. They untied one family member before they left after which the police were informed.
The SSP said the police had some leads and were investigating.
"The area has seen similar robberies earlier too and the police had arrested a few people, all students, and sent them to jail. These boys mostly live in lodges and are students. But they take part in robbery and loot to make a fast buck. It is possible, some men belonging to the same group had carried out the crime after release from jail. The police are working on all leads and arrests will take place soon. Not all of them had their faces covered. Their sketches are being prepared," the officer said.
Patna, which has three superintendents of police in addition to an SSP, has witnessed several criminal incidents in the recent past. On February 24, the day Nitish spelt out his government's priority - to tackle crime - Subhash Chandravanshi, a contractor, was shot dead in broad daylight in Ghagha Toli area under the jurisdiction of Khajekalan police station. The police are yet to make a breakthrough in that case. Similarly, many other serious crimes committed in the recent past remain unsolved till now.
The residents are a worried lot.
"The law and order situation in Patna has gone from bad to worse. A crime is committed every other day but there are no breakthroughs. This incident exposes the police's claims on the night patrol front," said Arvind Kumar, a Boring Road resident.
