Kolkata, Jan 5 Abbas Raja, a hired robber from Uttar Pradesh, has been arrested by detectives of the Anti-Dacoity Section of the Kolkata Police’s Detective Department in connection with the Rs 3 crore gold robbery in the Sinthee area of north Kolkata, police said on Monday.
According to police, Abbas had fled to Dubai after the robbery and worked at a gold shop there for nearly one and a half months, posing as a law-abiding worker. However, after his tourist visa expired, he planned to return to Uttar Pradesh and go into hiding. Acting on a lookout notice issued against him, Kolkata Police detectives arrested him immediately after he landed at Lucknow airport.
The robbery took place on October 30 last year, when the accused stopped a scooter in front of a gold jewellery workshop in the Sinthee area, brandished pistols, and fled with gold worth Rs 3 crore. Police said all the accused were linked to the gold trade.
Investigations revealed that the heist was masterminded by S.K. Israil, along with his associates Saidul and Masum. Israil had hired Abbas Raja, an old associate from Uttar Pradesh, for the crime. Abbas procured pistols from Uttar Pradesh and travelled to Kolkata. He, along with Masum, carried out the armed robbery and later divided the stolen gold in the Hooghly district.
Police said Abbas then travelled by train from Hooghly to Burdwan and Asansol before reaching Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, detectives arrested Masum, Saidul, and Israil and recovered a portion of the stolen gold.
During interrogation, police raided Abbas’s house in the Akbarpur police station area of Ambedkar Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh. They learned that after returning from Kolkata in November, Abbas had begun preparations to travel to Dubai and had obtained a tourist visa. He managed to flee from Lucknow airport before police could apprehend him and later found work at a gold shop owned by an acquaintance in Dubai.
A lookout notice was subsequently issued against him by the Kolkata Police headquarters. On Friday, Abbas arrived in Lucknow after his visa expired. He planned to lie low before attempting to return to Dubai again, but was detained by immigration officials at the airport, who alerted Kolkata Police.
Detectives arrested him around 1 a.m. on Sunday and brought him to Kolkata on Monday. Police said Abbas is still in possession of at least 700 grams of stolen gold. Plans are underway to take him to Uttar Pradesh for further searches to recover the remaining gold.
Meanwhile, the three other accused, currently in judicial custody, will be interrogated at the Presidency Correctional Home in connection with efforts to recover the remaining stolen gold.
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