Jorhat, Feb. 2: They came, they saw and hoped to conquer — not with guns and machetes, but with itching powder, chloroform, ropes and screwdrivers.
Armed with skills from a school for criminals, a gang of five, aged between 12 and 25, arrived in this Upper Assam town from West Bengal a few days ago.
As soon as the robbers alighted from a train at Mariani station here, the first thing they did was to rent a house. Job done, they emerged in groups of two to accomplish their mission.
The first day’s loot on Wednesday filled their coffers with three bags — two snatched from the Mariani area and one from a woman in front of a bank in Jorhat town.
Yesterday, however, the youngest member of the gang, 12-year-old Sunit Rai, was caught when he messed up matters while snatching a bag from a journalist here and ended up in police custody.
Almost at the same time, a French tourist, who was returning from Majuli, was robbed while she stopped at a shop in the heart of Jorhat town. Her passport, visa and flight tickets were in her bag, which was snatched by another member of the group.
By the end of the day, however, the police rounded up the rest of the gang based on Sunit’s information and with the help of railway police at Mariani. The loot was recovered and all five sent to judicial custody.
Interrogation revealed that the five-member gang, comprising Sunit, Sagar Yadav, Robin Das, Bijoy Das and Rumi Das, had arrived from Phatapakur village in West Bengal’s New Jalpaiguri district.
They learnt the ABC of their trade from a sardar (leader) in the village and operated under him after completing their training.
“It is a type of school where the sardar imparts training in looting, snatching handbags and other criminal activities,” investigating officer Moni Samua told The Telegraph.
The alumni then spread to different parts of the country, concentrating primarily on the eastern region. “The sardar pays for their food and board in return for the goods looted by his pupils,” the police officer said.
Samua said it was very difficult to apprehend such gangs as they make a fast exit from the place of crime. “It was our luck that one got caught while snatching a bag,” he added.
Jorhat police have contacted their West Bengal counterparts regarding the “school for criminals” in Phatapakur village.