Armed duo confines three employees in a bathroom at ‘koita’ point and decamps with cash of Rs 10,000, laptop and personal cell phones
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: A daring daylight robbery in St John the Baptist Church, Benaulim office on Tuesday sent shockwaves across Salcete with the two-member gang decamping with cash of Rs 10,000, a laptop and the personal cell phones of the three office employees after confining them in a bathroom at “koita” point.
The incident occurred at around 11.30 am when Parish Priest Fr Nelson Colaco had left for Panjim, while the Assistant Parish Priest had just gone out for some work. Apparently taking advantage of their absence, the two miscreants – with the female wearing a burqa and the male wearing a black pant and shirt with face covered with a kerchief – entered the office and demanded from a lady clerk the daily Church collection. At the time of the incident, two female and a male employee were present in the office.
Narrating the incident, an employee, Joyce Rodrigues recalled that the duo approached her and demanded the Church collection.
“He threatened to slit my throat with the “koita”. Initially, I thought that the man was joking, but he then went towards the other employee demanding the money. They then tied our hands and confined us in the bathroom. While the woman was wearing a burqa, the man was attired in black pant and shirt with face covered with a white kerchief”, Joyce recalled. She said the accused brought her out of the bathroom within five minutes as he wanted me to unlock the laptop.
Joyce said cash of Rs 10,000 was in the drawer at the time of the incident. Besides cash and the laptop, the miscreants took away their personal cell phones.
The cook Paulo Mascarenhas, who saw the armed miscreants inside the office, managed to flee through the rear door and rushed to the house of the committee treasurer Tito Figueiredo, but before Tito and Paulo returned, the duo had already made good their escape.
Fr Nelson Colaco told Herald that the miscreants must have kept a close eye on the movements at the Church before executing their plan. “I had gone to Panjim, while my assistant Priest had also gone out. Tito had also gone to his house before the two robbers effected entry”, Fr Colaco said.
The Colva police immediately swung into action, but could not trace the accused. The police were trying to track down the miscreants via cell phone of the employee, which robbed by the accused while fleeing away.
DySP Mohan Naik said the two accused, who were speaking in Konkani, left the Church premises after the incident. “A local, who had come to the Church with his child, came across the duo moving out of the Church with the koita. They must have left in a four-wheeler”, DySP Naik said.
The employees were later sent for medical examination. Avertano Furtado, Caitu Silva, Churchill Alemao made their presence felt and had a word with DySP Mohan Naik.
