Kochi: A gang of armed robbers wearing full face masks broke into a house located in the heart of the city during the wee hours of Friday and stole nearly five sovereign gold ornaments from an elderly couple at knife point. The armed robbery that sent panic waves among city residents happened at 3.30 am at the wife house of industrialist Babu Moopan at Pulleppady Crossroad near Lissie Junction. According to cops, four members of the gang broke into the house of Muhammed Ismail by cutting open grill bars of the window of the front room. They then attacked Ismail and his wife and forcefully took away a two-sovereign gold chain and a couple of gold bangles weighing one-and-a-half sovereign each from the terrified couple at knife point.
“As per the complaint, the gang tied up the elderly couple. The elderly woman suffered a fracture in one of her fingers as the gang brandished knives and assaulted them. They then forcefully took away the ornaments,” police said.
Ismail’s daughter-in-law and three children were asleep in a room upstairs while their driver was at the terrace. Hearing the commotion, the driver rushed down, however, he got scared and shut himself in one of the rooms when the gang brandished the knife. The daughter-in law too came down but she ran back and locked her room terrified by the robbers.
“The robbers were seen in the CCTV returning from the house around 4.30 am. While four got inside, a few others were waiting for them outside the house,” the police said. A team of senior police personnel including IG P. Vijayan and Commissioner M.P. Dinesh arrived at the scene and collected evidence. The cops recovered a live bullet from the house premise, making the cops suspect the gang had also guns with them. The Ernakulam North Police lodged a case under IPC section 390 (robbery). “We’ve formed a special squad which will approach the case from different angles. As of now we’re seeing it as a robbery,” they said. The cops are also looking into possibility of involvement of migrant labourers.
