Karnataka   

Kerala traders prime targets for robbery Law & order

Even as incidents of bullion and fish merchants from Kozhikode district in Kerala being robbed of gold and cash are being regularly reported from the city since the past five years, the police have not traced the culprits in a single case so far.

At least a dozen such incidents have taken place in the recent years, mainly in West division, and in the latest case reported on Wednesday, an unidentified man stabbed to death a bullion trader from Kozhikode in Chickpet and tried to snatch a bag containing Rs. 35 lakh from him.

The police suspect that some people from Kerala, particularly Kozhikode, with the support of the criminals here, could have committed the robberies. They also suspect that the robbers have a thorough knowledge of the transactions of bullion and fish traders.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) K.V. Sharathchandra, the negligence of these traders has been largely contributing to the crime. They do not take adequate precaution though they carry huge quantities of gold and cash.

For instance, Hakeem, who was murdered in Chickpet on Wednesday, “was carrying cash in a plastic bag like one carries vegetables,” he said.

After a spurt in such cases during 2004, the police advised bullion traders not to carry cash and instead collect cheques or demand drafts from their customers. But for reasons better known to them they continue to carry cash without any protection, Mr. Sharathchandra said.

He suggests that instead of walking to the bus stand with huge cash, they could hire a taxi and safely reach Kozhikode. On December 25, 2004, a businessman from Kozhikode, Mehamood, was kidnapped from Majestic area and robbed of Rs. 6.5 lakh.

In a similar incident on April 21, 2004, a seven-member gang kidnapped two gold merchants and released them after robbing them of gold biscuits worth Rs. 40 lakh and Rs. 2.5 lakh cash. Saleem and Zulfikar from Kuduvally in Kozhikode district were kidnapped in a van from near a hotel in Chickpet. They were taken near the Bellandur tank in HAL police station limits and robbed of seven kg of gold and cash.

In what is said to be the first such incident, on April 1, 2002, four men kidnapped two employees of Vidyasagar, a goldsmith from Kozhikode, and relieved them of Rs.11 lakh cash.

The incident took place in the Central police station limits when the two employees were on their way to catch a bus to Kerala.

In another case, on February 10, 2004, a 10-member gang posing as Customs officials robbed the employee of a fish merchant of Rs. 26 lakh cash in Kengeri police station limits. Andrew Thangal, an employee of Abdul Razak, a Kozhikode-based fish merchant, was travelling to Thalassery in a Kerala State Transport Corporation bus, when he was robbed of the cash.

In the most infamous of these cases that was reported from Kengeri police station limits on August 27, 2002, a group allegedly led by the then Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic-Vijayanagar), A. Belliappa, robbed Danaraj and Manohar, employees of Sainuddin, a gold merchant from Kozhikode, of Rs. 19 lakh.

Posing as Customs officials, Belliappa, sub-inspector Dasanna, head constable Parthasarathy and constable Mohan allegedly dragged out Danraj and Manohar from a Kerala-bound private bus and robbed them of the cash. Belliappa was later dismissed from service.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Hacker lands in police net in Bangalore
State earns Rs. 3 crore in auction of confiscated ore
Chitradurga to host 75th Kannada sammelan
‘White paper’ on Goa SEZs next week: Digambar Kamat
Arabic students meet tomorrow
Rail roko
GPs seek direct funds from Government
SGSY: Gadag district first in the State
Silver medal at Commonwealth championship
‘Entrepreneurial spirit essential for growth’
Kerala traders prime targets for robbery Law & order
Bank branch opened

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu