Robbers use toy gun in highway heist

UDAIPUR: With a toy gun in hand, it was just child’s play. Even though this was their first attempt at dacoity.

Four amateur robbers have told police they looted gold and silver jewellery, estimated to be worth more than ₹3 crore, using a toy gun to scare a group of travellers in June.

The four were arrested on Tuesday, police said.

There were ten members in the gang who looted the Agra jewellers travelling from Rajkot in Gujarat with 470kg of silver and 1.5 kg of gold jewellery in the wee hours of June 22.

Gangs active along highways are often armed with countrymade firearms though use of toy guns is unheard of.

Udaipur superintendent of police Rajendra Prasad Goyal said the four arrested people are also into the jewellery business and have shops in Nathdwara, Kurabad and Udaipur.

They were in touch with people who knew about the victims’ plans to travel with a large consignment of jewellery.

Goyal said the mastermind, Heera Lal Gurjar, planned the robbery with his three associates near Tidi village on the national highway No. 8.

“A member of their gang from Rajkot informed them about the movement of the jewellers. These four intercepted their car and robbed them at gun-point,” the police chief said.

Goyal said after police teams scanned CCTV footages of toll booths on the highway to pick clues on the gang.

“They don’t have any criminal antecedents,” the SP said. “This was their first crime. After committing the loot, they left Udaipur and stayed at different places.”

Police are interrogating them for arresting other members of the gang, Goyal added.

They don’t have any criminal antecedents. This was their first crime. After committing the loot, they left Udaipur and stayed at different places. RAJENDRA PRASAD GOYAL , Udaipur superintendent of police