Team Herald
MARGAO: In a major breakthrough, Colva Police have nabbed two masked robbers who are involved in several incidents of house-breaking and theft in Colva. They have also arrested a Margao resident, who received gold that had been stolen by the arrested duo.
The accused have confessed to their role in several burglary cases, which involves stolen goods worth over Rs 1.5 crore, in Colva and surrounding villages. Superintendent of Police Shekhar Prabhudessai has congratulated Colva PI Braz Menezes and PSI Nilesh Tari for solving the cases.
The masked robbers had become a major headache for the police. The accused Mario Baptist, resident of Pedda-Benaulim, and Ryan Dias, resident of Ambora-Raia, were intercepted by the police at Mungul and arrested with gold worth Rs 3 lakh and cash of Rs 1.50 lakh. The items recovered were recently stolen from an apartment of a UK national on Jan 21. The duo brought the items to Mungul to strike a deal when they were nabbed.
The duo has confessed to their involvement in several burglaries, some as old as three years. The duo has been charged under Sections 457 and 380 of IPC and has remanded to 6-day police custody. The number of robberies committed with the same modus operandi in the Colva police station’s jurisdiction stands at 50, and the police now claim that they may solve most of the cases by means of this arrest.
Meanwhile, Domingo Diniz, a resident of Margao who received the gold in most cases involving the duo, has also been arrested for his involvement in a burglary case on January 21. The police are also investigating several goldsmiths who have bought the robbed gold from the duo.
“Domingo has become the co-accused. Goldsmiths will also be investigated and booked,” said PSI Tari.
“The modus operandi of the January 21 case and the numerous other cases in Colva were found to be similar, which gave us a hint that the robberies may be connected. It also led us to believe that locals may be involved, said SP Prabhudessai, adding, “The trail of the gold that has been robbed in the other burglaries is being searched. Very soon, the police may be able to recover it.”
The robbers used to scale pipes and open the latches of houses with their hand or a stick and decamp with goods. Police have also informed that a four-wheeler was used for the robberies and they are tracing it.
Colva police have registered over 50 cases of theft in the last five years, and the total loot may cross over Rs 1.5 crore, including gold, cash and foreign currency.
