In a daring dacoity that occurred on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, around half a dozen robbers barged into the house of a businessman Sumit Tandon located in posh Saket Colony in Dalanwala and looted the house while holding the family members hostage on the veranda.
Interestingly, the robbery occurred a few kilometres away from the office of Dehradun SSP. The residents are learnt to have been bludgeoned with iron rods when they screamed for help. The criminals escaped with jewellery and cash amounting to lakhs of rupees.
Police rushed to the spot soon after they were informed of the robbery. later, additional DGP (law and order) Ram Singh Meena, DIG Garhwal Range Pushpak Jyoti, SSP Sweety Aggarwa, SP City Ajay Singh and CO Dalanwala H Singh reached the incident site. Police sources said that the robbers broke open the house and confined the family members- Sumit Tandon, his wife Ruchika Tandon and his mother Vandana Tandon- on the veranda and asked them to keep quiet. But as Ruchika tried to resist one of the robbers another hit her with an iron rod. However, as two family members Aashu and Dipali shouted that the police were coming on being informed the robbers chose to flee while taking some jewellery and cash with them.
Such incidents happening at regular intervals in the state capital have left the residents insecure. They say that the robbery has come close on the heels of a string of thefts that happened in several shops within the Kotwali police station area. “Despite police claiming to have taken steps to clamp down on thefts and robberies, the miscreants are continuing with their crimes with impunity and almost under the nose of the cops, things that are reflecting poorly on the functioning of the police department,” said an observer.