Inspired by a recent heist, two employees of a courier firm decide to rob a consignement belonging to their employer from Mumbai airport and blame it on a gang of fake cops
Inspired by a recent heist, two employees of a courier firm decide to rob their boss and blame it on a gang of fake cops
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1) On January 17, two employees of a new courier company – New Bharat Air Company – were given the responsibility of collecting a consignment of 2.5 kg gold valuables from the airport. The two, Dilip Das and Manish Mishra, decided to rob their boss and blame it on a gang of fake cops. They were copying the modus operandi of a November heist – a Kalbadevi-based courier firm was robbed of Rs 6 crore in valuables by its employees, whose accomplices posed as policemen to make away with the valuables ('Fake police make away with valuables', November 16). Das and Mishra picked up the consignment in an auto rickshaw on Friday.
2) The duo stopped the auto rickshaw at Kherwadi junction signal. Mishra, a resident of Haryana, got down with the loot, hailed a taxi and left for Delhi. The two had been trusted employees of the owner, and had been working with him for the past three years. The owner of the firm has an electronics shop.
3) Das then went to the Kherwadi police, acting as if they had just been robbed by the fake cops’ gang. Kherwadi police officials said Das looked tense and was sweating. They gave him a glass of water, after which Das narrated a concocted story of how the consignment belonging to his employer had been robbed by a group of thieves posing as policemen. Police immediately informed the Crime Branch and nearby police officers and started investigations.
4) Police also started questioning Das, a Bihar resident, the same night. “He was giving evasive answers and murmurs in replies. After a tough interrogation, he confessed to the plot. They had been inspired by the recent heist in which employees robbed a courier company of Rs 6 crore valuables. They (Das and Mishra) wanted to get rich quick, and thought their plan was foolproof,” said an officer from Kherwadi police station. The duo had read newspaper reports about the heist that had also occurred at Kherwadi signal. Das was arrested on January 18, while Mishra is still absconding with the gold. Senior Inspector Ashok Kadam said, “We have registered the case and have arrested one accused. We hope to arrest the other one and recover the valuables soon.”