A daring dacoity was committed in the heart of Calcutta after 9 pm while it was raining. A number of youths with revolvers entered the house of an East Bengal merchant, playing cards at the time. They easily overawed him, took possession of the key of the safe, removed a considerable sum in cash and jewellery and departed. The inmates of the house were so completely overawed that they took no action to raise a hue and cry immediately after the dacoits left and the police got the news an hour after the event. The Englishman writes: "Estimable citizen as he (the merchant) may otherwise be, he is not of the slightest assistance to the police when armed dacoits are about, nor even after they have departed from the scene of the crime…" The terrifying of the victim is the dacoit's biggest asset and that he relies on it is proved by the manner in which the dacoits committed the crime.