MAPUSA, JUNE 20
Three persons, including a minor, who posed as policemen and robbed a civil engineer at Badem-Assagao were nabbed by Anjuna police on Saturday.
Two accused have been identified as Sam Mainkar (23) of Candolim and Balkrishna Devadiga (23), a native of Belgaum but residing at Calangute, while the third accused is a 17-year-old boy from Candolim.
While Sam and Balkrishna have been remanded to 5 days police custody, the minor has been sent to Apna Ghar in Merces.
It may be recalled that on June 9, a civil engineer from Taleigao, Bhimappa Bamankalli, was waylaid by three persons at his construction site in Badem-Assagao.
The three robbers had taken away a mobile phone, cash of Rs 15,000 and two signed blank cheques. They later assaulted the engineer at Tivim.
After obtaining a rough description of the accused from the complainant, the police zeroed in on some suspects with a criminal track record.
During investigations, the police managed to track down the calls made by the accused to the complainant demanding Rs 5 lakh from him.
Anjuna police along with their counterparts in Calangute finally managed to nab Sam from his hideout at Calangute. The police then nabbed the other two accused and recovered the stolen mobile phone.
According to Mapusa SDPO DySP Sammy Tavares, both Sam Mainkar and Balkrishna Devadiga have a criminal past. While Sam was earlier arrested in connection with a brutal assault at Arpora, Balkrishna was allegedly involved in a robbery at Pernem in 2004.
DySP Tavares said the police is also on the lookout for two more persons involved in the robbery. PI Ramesh Gaonkar is investigating the case under the supervision of DySP Tavares.
