Chinhat dacoity may be handiwork of experts

LUCKNOW: The daring heist at the Chinhat house of retired deputy food commissioner RP Pandey has all the markings of a meticulously planned job of seasoned criminals, preliminary police investigation suggests.
In a major departure from their earlier theory that the accused may be ordinary construction labourers, the police now believe that at least six of the twelve who executed the loot late on Friday night were a lot smarter that they wanted to appear.The group that robbed cash, jewellery and valuables to the tune of around Rs 70 lakh from Pandey’s plush house in Chinhat’s Prembagh colony, managed to pull out SIM cards from high-end phones in a bid to buy time for the robbery.
Members of the Pandey family used four cell phones (Apple iPhone, two Samsung smartphones and one Moto E). Having confined Pandey, his wife, daughter and two grandchildren in one bedroom, the assailants took in their possession all the four cell phones as well as four tablets the family owned.
“Barring the iPhone, the miscreants were able to pull out SIM cards from the cell phones with ease. Opening Samsung phones is fine, but fiddling with SIM slot of Moto E does seem to be a tricky affair for construction labourers by all means,” said a sub-inspector working on the case.
Having removed the SIM cards, the gang either hid the devices in different places in the house or dumped them in the backyard before escaping with the booty in the wee hours.
“The group got a breather of at least 30 minutes to escape unchecked this way. Only seasoned criminals could have planned a heist in this manner. They were not first-timers for sure as we had presumed for some time initially,” said circle officer of Gomtinagar area, DySP Satyasen Yadav.
When the family members managed to untie themselves, they rushed to neighbours for help and made a call to police control room. Later in the morning, once the family regained composure, they found the SIM cards and all the eight electronic devices undamaged.
Realigning their approach, the police have now contacted Madiaon and Gudamba police where a PGI radiologist and an ashram were targeted in a similar fashion in February and April respectively. It is believed member the same gang may be responsible for the Chinhat dacoity too.