Posing as CBI officers, gang loot Rs 29.66 lakh from steel firm office

 A gang of seven persons posed as CBI officials and decamped with Rs 29.66 lakh from an office of a steel company in Gokulam 3rd Stage in the city on Friday.

The daylight dacoity was reported from the office of a manager of Thandya (Nanjangud taluk)-based Kyathi Steel Company. The company is owned by Naveen Kumar Gupta and has its head office at Yadavagiri in the city.

The office at Gokulam had been opened to make payments to transport operators and traders of steel scrap.

Police said that manager Vinod Kumar brought Rs 35 lakh cash from the head office to his office on Friday. Around 11.45 am, Kumar noticed a gang alighting from a Tata Sumo vehicle. Kumar had been viewing the CCTV camera which had been installed just a couple of days back. Kumar said he rushed out to make enquiries but was pushed back into the office. “The men claimed that they were CBI officials and assaulted me when I asked for their ID cards,” Kumar told policemen.

“The gang members shut the entrance of the premise under the pretext of an enquiry and snatched the keys of the office. They then opened the almirah and took away Rs 29.66 lakh cash kept in a bag. They locked up the manager and scrap trader Shafi in the office and escaped with the cash and the hard disk of the CCTV camera,” police sources said.

Kumar shouted for help and when the door was opened by neighbours, he informed the owner. Gupta then lodged a complaint in the office of the Police Commissioner.

Only scrap traders and lorry owners knew that cash is dealt with in the office. Police said that they suspect the dacoity to be the handiwork of an insider as the owner does not generally stash too much cash in the office. Police said that the gang members were perhaps aware that the manager had brought in a large amount of cash and thus chose to loot the office.