A victim of a broad day light road robbery in the Ranka Valley under Ranka police station in Garhwa district on Tuesday described a new mode of road robbery here, which may give police a task to rethink of road crime control measures.
The victim Md Irshad Alam alias Ranu (30) an employee of a private firm who lives in Nawa Toli in Daltonganj said, “Three road robbers on a bike intercepted my bike at the Ranka Valley around 11.30 AM on Tuesday and pushed me from the bike. Then they tried hard to render my bike immoveable.”
Sources said road robbery is now being done with this kind of overtaking and interception of vehicles. The earlier mode of putting across heavy logs of wood and boulders on road is now being replaced by this kind of overtaking. Sources said overtaking is done in a very surreptitious manner, where the overtaking bike and its occupant or occupants lie in hiding near any road side bush and once a bike or vehicle passes these people hiding in jungle just come on the road and speed up and overtake.
The victim said as he had worn helmet he could not guess the bike coming behind. The victim was beaten up. One of the three road robbers even trained a country made pistol at him while the other of the three shouted no fire. The victim’s life was spared. The victim said this could be a terror tactic to get his belongings and all.
The victim lost 600 rupees, helmet, his cell phone and a bag containing all his vital documents. However the victim said the locals and the Ranka police gave him a big helping hand. He was heard by police and follow up action was done too.
The officer in charge of the Ranka police station took the victim to the robbery site and made a search there. The mukhiya and the villagers even stood at one end of the valley to stop any suspicious looking movement of the bike with three occupants but the road robbers are suspected to have taken some cross country routes.
The victim said “All the three road robbers had their faces covered which suggest they have this fear of being identified. Their being local cannot be ruled out. “
An FIR to this effect has been launched with Ranka police station by the victim.
Sources said as the news of this robbery reached Daltonganj late in the evening SP Garhwa Shivani Tiwary was contacted on phone who taking immediate note of this episode alerted her Ranka police to further intensify the search for the criminal.
The victim said under order of the SP Shivani Tiwary the victim and his brothers who went from Daltonganj to Ranka to bring him back were given police protection upto the Ranka Ghatee. The victim and his brothers reached Daltonganj at 10.30 PM Tuesday night.
Shivani Tiwary said, “Police vigil has been beefed up in the Ranka Ghatee.” SDPO Ranka Vijay Kumar too rushed to Ranka and monitored the post crime scenario.