Pathankot cops nab burglars posing as cooks, domestic helps

Ravi Dhaliwal

Pathankot, August 26

Residents heaved a sigh of relief when news spread that the Pathankot police had arrested two Nepalese, who were the masterminds behind a series of recent robberies in the city.

The accused used to offer their services in posh houses as cooks, drivers and domestic helps. Later, with the help of yet another team, they would conduct a reconnaissance of the area and rob people for whom they worked of their cash and ornaments. By the time the police would be informed they would flee to safer places outside the city.

The accused have earned the sobriquet of “crooked cooks” in police circles. SSP Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh said the two accused — Hikmath Khadka and Dharam Raj Bohra — were part of a five-member inter-state gang.

“The two were arrested after a detailed investigation that took us to several states. The accused had a history of evading the law as is evident from cases registered against them in New Delhi and various cities of Uttar Pradesh. A sum of Rs 57 lakh has been recovered from their possession. Preliminary investigations reveal that such gangs of “crooked cooks” operated on a massive scale in this town. The arrests of Kahdka and Bohra is just the tip of the iceberg, that is why we always ask residents to verify the antecedents of people whom they recruit as servants,” said the SSP.

Officers say such robberies were regularly being reported from the city after which a special team was formed. “Once the ‘cooks’ used to gain the confidence of the household members, they would start looking for places where the families kept their cash and ornaments. They would then inform their colleagues living in nearby cities about the value of the booty and the exact location where it was being kept in the house. Their colleagues would then rob the house. Such was the proximity they developed with the families with whom they worked that nobody ever suspected their role. They used to develop a special affinity with the members of the household,” said SSP Khakh.

“On May 13 this year, the gang orchestrated a robbery in the house of an affluent businessman, Munish Pudar. The accused incapacitated some household members and decamped with a big haul of cash. A licensed pistol belonging to the owner was also taken away by the gang,” said an officer engaged in the investigations.

The SSP immediately formed a team comprising DSP (City) Lakhwinder Singh Randhawa and Sub-Inspectors Mohit Taak and Sahil Pathania. Consequently, an FIR was registered at the Division No.1 police station under various sections of the IPC, including 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

“We had some tangible clues which took the police team to Bengaluru where the two were arrested. Technology played a big role in cracking the case. The accused either used to give sedatives to their victim before committing the heist or would spike their food. In some cases, in order to buy time till they reached a safer place, they would take away the mobile phones of their victims,” said Khakh.

The officials have appealed to residents to inform the police before hiring domestic helps, drivers or cooks.