TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: People of Nuvem woke up on Tuesday to hear the shocking news of a daring robbery in the bungalow of Salgaocar Football Club secretary Raj Gomes at Cupem area after he and his wife Isabel were attacked by armed robbers and their jewellery stolen after latching the door of the room where their daughter and son-in-law were sleeping.
The injured couple was rushed to a Margao-based super speciality hospital where the husband was operated for grievous injuries on the head and eye.
The incident is believed to have occurred in the wee hours of Tuesday between 1.30 am and 3 am soon after the husband-wife duo and their daughter and son-in-law went to sleep at around 1.15 am after returning from a family function at Cansaulim. The robbers effected entry into the house by removing the window grill. After gaining entry, the miscreants latched the room located upstairs where the daughter and son-in-law were sleeping.
The incident came to light at around 3 am when the son-in-law Adv Kelvin Spencer woke up to answer nature’s call, only to find the door latched from outside. Taken aback, Spencer and wife Sherliane tried calling Isabel and since there was no reply, they rang one of the neighbours for help and also called up the Police Control Room. One of the neighbours Carmelinha and her son Dylon responded to the call and came to the house only to find the door closed. In the meantime, another neighbour Siddesh entered the house through the rear side window through which the miscreants had gained entry after removing the grill.
In his complaint, Spencer said when they all went towards the bedroom of his father-in-law, they found Raj profusely bleeding in the bathroom and the wife in a pool of blood on the bed. The complainant said that a diamond necklace besides gold ornaments has been stolen from the house, but the exact number of items and its value will be known only after the injured couple gives their statement to the police. Also, the number of miscreants involved in the daring robbery will be known only after the police record the statement of the husband-wife duo.
Spencer told Herald that her mother-in-law had brought the gold ornaments from the bank only a day or two, prior to the incident for a family wedding scheduled later this week. “We had returned home late last night as we had gone to attend the ‘Ross’ of a close relative. The wedding is scheduled later this week,” he said. Replying to a question, Spencer said his father-in-law has undergone a surgery as he has sustained injuries on the skull, which has left the eye injured.
The Maina-Curtorim police were left baffled as the robbery comes against the daring Davorlim dacoity, which remains undetected till date. Incidentally, Tuesday’s robbery has taken place in an area, which is close to the Nuvem road junction manned by police personnel. It is learnt that though the police had responded quickly to the call, they could not make it to the house for want of any idea of the topography of the area.
Police said the miscreants attacked the couple with a danda, adding that the police has attached the weapon of assault. Police believe that the miscreants might not have lifted away all the gold jewellery after Spencer tried to open the door of his room upstairs and have made good their escape with whatever they could lay their hands on.
