Robbery at Harshvardhan Nagar in Bhopal

BHOPAL: Masked robbers armed to the teeth struck at home of a government official at Harshvardhan Colony, tied up the couple and decamped with cash, jewellery and their Rs 10-lakh car early on Sunday. The ruthless chaddi-banian gang was behind the robbery and they rummaged around almirahs and drawers for over two hours while the couple lay tied to the bed post.
Before leaving with the booty, they warned the couple not to call cops for five minutes or they would again target the house in two weeks.Shocked and jolted Alok Chouksey, 54, executive engineer in urban administration and development (UAD) department later lodged a complaint with TT Nagar police station. He resided in LIG 185 in the colony.
Thirty minutes before they struck at Harshvardhan Colony, the gang targeted Rivera Township and injured two security guards, but could not get access inside homes.
Chouksey was asleep with his wife when robbers struck in ground-floor bedroom. The first floor was occupied by tenants. His two daughters had gone to their maternal mother-in-law’s home in Nagpur. The goons, four in number, barged in from the front side of double-storied house.
They broke open a grille of drawing room with a screw driver and went inside the bedroom where the couple was asleep. The masked men flashed a torch on their faces and woke them up. They were wielding rods and other equipment.
Chouksey said, “They ordered me to keep silent. I told them cash and valuables were in bank lockers and not at home. But they forced us to comply. They cleaned up the almirah of gold jewellery, two 2 mangal sutras, 1 gold chain, 4 rings, 2 bangles, ear rings, a mobile phone and Rs 60,000 in cash.”
They searched two rooms of the house, including my bedroom and study. “It seems the accused knew where we keep the valuables. After the robbery, they locked our bedroom from outside and warned us not to call the police. After sometime, I called a friend at Mata Mandir and also tenants on first floor. They opened the locks. I went out and found my car also missing. The robbers picked up car keys from drawer,” said Chouksey. The couple was scheduled to go to Nagpur on Sunday and had also called a taxi. Police and forensic experts later collected finger prints from the spot.
Before Harshvardhan Nagar, the gang had entered nearby Rivera Township and targeted a locked house there. But two security guards Mahesh Raj and Pramod Deshmukh resisted after which they escaped by injuring the two security guards. In Rivera Township they targeted house number 10 in phase 1, which was locked and recently taken on rent by a person, who is out of town.