Lucknow: Dacoits strike at jeweller’s house, gag & rob elderly

LUCKNOW: In a daring incident, a gang of dacoits struck at the shop-cum-residence of a jeweller in Gosainganj, about 20 km from the state capital,

overpowered

and gagged the elderly couple at home and fled early Thursday morning with Rs 2.10 lakh cash and jewellery worth Rs 6 lakh.


The elderly couple, Basant Lal Khandelwal (72) and Vimla Devi (70) were asleep when the dacoits struck at their house at Khurdahi Bazar area under Gosainganj police station. The couple’s son and complainant Daya Khandelwal lives in Lalbagh. The dacoits armed with guns and other weapons cut a hole in the rear wall of the house. Two dacoits entered through the hole and opened the doors from inside to let others in at 2 am on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

The two woke up on hearing the noise but were overpowered by dacoits who held them at gunpoint, tied their hands and stuffed cloths in their mouths to gag them.

There were around 8 to 10 dacoits, said police. The dacoits thrashed the couple till they gave the keys of almirahs and collected cash and jewellery from the house as well as the shop.

Daya told TOI that two dacoits kept threatening to kill the elderly if they tried to show cleverness while others searched for cash and valuables. The dacoits left at 4am after which Basant untied himself and Vimla and called the neighbour who informed police and Daya.

Lucknow SSP Kalanidhi Naithani told TOI that CCTV footage is being scanned to identify the dacoits and gather clues. “We suspect that Pardi or Bawariya gang was involved in the dacoity. I have instructed SP Rural Vikrant Vir and a team has been set up for patrolling in rural areas,” he added.