Palamu dacoity: Gang flees with jewellery worth ₹8–10 lakh and a tin of khaini
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK Daltonganj, October 12: Untari Road police are yet to make a breakthrough in the dacoity at a house…
Scattered household items lie outside Vishal Kumar Sharma’s house in Satbahani village, Palamu district, following the dacoity in which jewellery worth an estimated ₹8–10 lakh was stolen.
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, October 12: Untari Road police are yet to make a breakthrough in the dacoity at a house in Satbahani village in Palamu district, where a gang of eight to 10 men allegedly decamped with gold and silver ornaments worth ₹8–10 lakh, along with an unusual item—a small tin of khaini (chewing tobacco).
The incident occurred between 1.30 am and 1.50 am on the intervening night of October 9 and 10 at the house of Vishal Kumar Sharma, younger brother of Anjay Kumar Sharma, a Jharkhand Armed Police personnel posted in Ranchi.
Vishal lodged an FIR at Untari Road police station on October 10. Police sources said the investigation had not yet yielded a significant lead.
Dacoits Break into House, Confine Woman in Room
According to Untari Road police station officer-in-charge Santosh Giri, the criminals broke through the iron-grill gate and a wooden door before entering the house.
They allegedly confined the mother of the Sharma brothers in a room and proceeded to collect jewellery and other items. She is believed to be the sole eyewitness to the incident.
Police said the gang remained inside the house for around 20 minutes before escaping. No family member, including the woman who witnessed the incident, was injured.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Bishrampur, Chiranjeev Mandal, explained why the incident had been registered as dacoity rather than robbery.
“It is a dacoity because the number of criminals was more than five. It would have been robbery had the number of criminals been fewer than five,” Mandal said.
Khaini Tin Among Items Taken
Apart from the gold and silver ornaments, the gang also took a small tin of khaini from the house, Giri said.
Police sources described the removal of such a seemingly insignificant item during a major dacoity as unusual.
The principal stolen property, however, was the jewellery estimated to be worth ₹8–10 lakh.
Police Examine Possible Bihar Connection
Investigators are examining the possibility that the gang could be linked to criminals operating in the Sone area of neighbouring Bihar.
Mandal said the geographical proximity of the area to Satbahani made it one of the lines of investigation.
“The Sone area of Bihar is not far away. Satbahani has reasonable access to it. Police are investigating this possibility as well,” he said.
The police are also examining the possibility of the criminals having used the nearby Satbahani railway station to escape.
The station is barely 200 metres from the victim’s house. After receiving information about the dacoity, police checked passenger train arrival and departure timings to determine whether the gang could have used a train to flee.
An officer said no passenger train had halted at the station for several hours after the suspected escape window around 1.50 am, making escape by passenger train appear unlikely.
Sniffer Dog’s Effectiveness Raises Questions
A senior police officer in Daltonganj, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed concern over the effectiveness of Palamu police’s sniffer dog in detecting crime, tracking suspects and locating hidden items.
The officer suggested that the dog’s advanced age might have affected its tracking ability and said the police could benefit from access to more experienced tracking dogs, such as those used by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
The comments underline the challenges investigators face in tracing the gang and recovering the stolen jewellery.
Unusual Circumstances Add to Investigation Challenges
Police sources noted that thefts and dacoities often occur in houses left locked for extended periods while occupants are away. In this case, however, the house was occupied when the gang struck.
The presence of family members, the alleged confinement of the brothers’ mother and the removal of both valuable jewellery and the khaini tin are among the details emerging from the investigation.
Police have yet to establish the identities of the suspects, recover the stolen property or determine the gang’s precise escape route.
