Bihar: Man uses facemask to loot cake shop; arrested

Bihar has so far not reported a single positive case out of 52 samples tested for coronavirus. However, people in droves are using surgical masks in the State as a precautionary measure. But the use of masks gave a budding criminal an ‘innovative idea’ to loot a cake shop while concealing his identity.

Shanu Kumar, an unemployed youth, wore a surgical mask and entered a cake shop in Jakkanpur area of the State Capital. The staff of the shop initially could not notice what was in store from this unsuspecting customer.

But within seconds, Shanu, brandishing his country-made pistol, asked the cashier to hand over the entire cash. After putting all the cash in the bag, which he was carrying, he rushed down the staircase.

Shanu’s accomplice Sagar, meanwhile, was waiting for him outside the shop. Incidentally, he too was wearing a surgical mask and had kept his bike in start mode.

The owner of the shop, however, raised an alarm. The Jakkanpur police, barely 100 metres away from the shop, rushed to the site and apprehended the main culprit while his accomplice Sagar escaped on the two-wheeler.

Later, the police raided several places and arrested Sagar while the bike was seized. “I had meticulously planned to loot the cake shop. But somehow my plan went kaput. Will adopt a new strategy next time and succeed,” Shanu told his interrogators inside the police lock-up.