Robbers take trader’s family hostage, loot ₹95L cash, jewels

Lucknow: A group of masked miscreants allegedly stormed the house of a grocery trader in Barabanki on early Friday and held the family hostage at gunpoint. They assaulted women and children and fled with cash and jewellery worth nearly Rs 95 lakh.

The incident took place around 3am in Gwari village. According to police and the victims, the accused entered the premises of grocery trader Himanshu alias Alok Jaiswal through the rear side of the building after breaking open the lock of the godown gate.

The trader’s grocery shop and warehouse are located on the ground floor, while the family resides on the upper floor of the building.

Himanshu told police that six to seven armed robbers entered the house while the family was asleep. One group barged into his room and attacked his wife with the butt of a country-made pistol. The accused tied up the couple, covered their faces and looted around Rs 12 lakh cash they had kept for construction work, besides gold and silver ornaments.

Another group of robbers entered an adjoining room where Himanshu’s sisters, Deepika and Sonali, mother Nandani, Deepika’s minor sons and an eight-year-old relative were sleeping. Family members alleged the robbers assaulted them, threatened them with firearms and forcibly took all their jewellery.

The robbers also snatched mobile phones from the family members and spent nearly 40 minutes searching cupboards, lockers, boxes and almirahs before fleeing with jewellery and cash -- Rs 80 lakh worth of ornaments and Rs 15 lakh cash.

Police said the robbers repeatedly threatened to kill the family if they resisted or raised an alarm.

After the gang fled, the eight-year-old girl managed to free the family members. She later used a mobile phone that was hidden from the robbers to alert UP-112 around 4am.

Barabanki SP Arpit Vijayvargiya and senior police officials reached the spot after receiving information and inspected the crime scene. Forensic teams collected evidence.

However, while the victims claimed that six to seven armed robbers were involved in the crime, police probe indicated the involvement of three to four persons. Additional SP (North) Vikas Chandra Tripathi said the accused appeared to have prior information about the cash kept inside the house.

Police registered a case under robbery-related charges and constituted five teams to crack the case. Investigators are examining CCTV footage and local intelligence inputs to identify the accused and trace the looted property.