THIEVES IMPERSONATE POLICE TO ROB AND LOOT

MARGAO: If a woman was burgled of her bag containing valuables worth over Rs seven lakh at a nuptial ceremony in a Church here on Tuesday evening, another woman became the victim of thieves while on an early morning jog around the Margao municipal garden – just a stone’s throw away from the Margao police headquarters on Wednesday.

Seventy-year old Sangeeta Mohan Redkar was relieved of her gold and other ornaments valued Rs 10 lakhs by miscreants posing as police personnel while she was jogging around the municipal garden on early Wednesday morning.

The incident occurred on early Wednesday morning when Redkar was on her routine early morning jog around the Municipal garden. Police said miscreants posing as policemen approached her while she was as usual jogging around the garden and advised her that it is not safe to wear precious ornaments when burglaries on the rise in the state. They advised her to remove the ornaments and keep them safely on her person.

An unsuspecting Sangeeta is believed to have paid heed to their advise, only to find the miscreants again approaching her after some time and advising her to put her ornaments in a plastic container.

Police said the victim woman did exactly what was advised by the miscreants under the guise of police personnel, but was handed over a container which did not contain her ornaments.

It was only later realisation dawned that the miscreants who approached her were not police personnel but thieves who took advantage of the situation. Three finger rings, besides six gold bangles, and a precious necklace, all worth around Rs 10 lakhs was stolen from the victim woman.

The Margao police has registered a case of theft against unknown miscreants. Incidentally, the Margao police, put on the backfoot over the spate of thefts in the commercial capital, maintained secrecy over the incident, and it was only later in the evening that the daring theft was confirmed by Margao police sub divisional officer, Deputy Superintendent Umesh Gaonkar.

In another development two thieves posing as policemen hoodwinked a housemaid from Mapusa and decamped with gold ornaments worth Rs 10,300. According to Mapusa police, the incident took place as Sushila Naik, a housemaid at Gausawado-Mapusa, was proceeding to her residence at Altinho on completion of work in the afternoon. When she reached near the civil court, two men in civil dress stopped her and claimed to be "policemen".

They mentioned that thefts and murders over gold ornaments are on rise in the town and said it was dangerous to move in the town wearing gold ornaments. They advised her to keep her ornaments in her bag and offered her a piece of paper to enclose the gold ornaments.

The housemaid accepted their suggestion in good faith and removed the gold ornaments, worth Rs 10,300, from her body and put them in the piece of the paper. One 'policeman' took those ornaments on the pretext of tying it properly, while his accomplice kept the woman busy in conversation.

The 'policeman' who had taken the gold ornaments exchanged the same with some fake silver ornaments and handed over the paper to the woman. they then advised her to open the paper only on reaching home.

The woman, however, opened the paper after traveling for some distance and was shocked to find that her gold ornaments had been replaced with fake silver ornaments. She then lodged a complaint at the Mapusa police station. Police Sub Inspector Dhawasker is investigating the case.