Bokaro, Jan. 31: Six armed criminals cleaned out cash and valuables worth over Rs 2.5 lakh from a house at Sector XI-AD last night.
The booty included 100gm gold ornaments, Rs 25,000 cash, a laptop and other things, said house owner Ram R. Chowdhry (46) in a police complaint. The money was meant for the engineering course fee of his sons studying at BIT, Sindri, and in Bhubaneswar, respectively.
The thieves, all in their early thirties, entered share broker-cum-businessman Chowdhry’s quarters (No. 2035) on the first floor by holding his next-door neighbour Ajay Chowdhry, a cable operator, at gunpoint. Ajay knocked on Ram’s door at midnight on the plea that he was unwell and needed medical care. When Ram opened the door, the criminals forced themselves in.
Ram’s two sons, daughter — a Class VIII student of Bokaro Ispat School — and wife were held captive while the dacoits looted the house and escaped on motorbikes.
Bokaro SP Saket Singh said investigations were on. But sources said the dacoits could have escaped to Dhanbad as the house is situated on the outskirts of Bokaro.