Police crack Baina dacoity, arrest 5 accused outside state

Substantial recovery made, says DGP

Panaji: Goa police have cracked the Baina dacoity case, with cops nabbing five accused at a location outside the state.

Director General of Police Alok Kumar confirmed the arrests on Tuesday. He said that a substantial recovery has been made in the case and the accused are being brought to Goa. Sources said the accused are mostly from Odisha.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that all the culprits involved in the dacoity would be arrested.

According to police, 7-8 dacoits were involved in the Baina flat dacoity. The Chief Minister said that those arrested are being brought to Goa. “I’d said that we were on track and now the breakthrough has been achieved,” Sawant said Tuesday evening.

It may be noted that a gang of at least seven armed and masked robbers had assaulted a family last week in their sixth-floor flat at Chamundi Arcade in Baina, Mormugao taluka, and decamped with Rs 1 lakh in cash, gold ornaments and silver utensils all worth Rs 45 lakh.

Sagar Nayak (60), who sustained severe head injuries, was admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), Bambolim.

The family of four, including a minor girl and the elderly mother-in-law, was assaulted with iron and aluminium rods and kicked during the dacoity. They were tied also. The attackers had stopped only when Harsha Nayak, Sagar’s wife, had pleaded for mercy.

The Baina dacoity was the third to occur in the state in the recent months. Earlier, dacoits had struck at Dona Paula and Mapusa targeting two bungalows of prominent citizens.

The dacoits had entered the Baina flat around 2:30 am on November 18 and they were captured on CCTV leaving the colony at 3:05 am. Their Hindi accent and the smell of mustard oil led the family to believe they were from North India. All the masked men appeared to be in their mid-20s and were wearing helmets.

Sagar Nayak, who is the chairman of Chamundi Arcade, was tied up and thrown into the balcony, from where he shouted for help while bleeding from head. A friend, Bholenath Halwai, residing in the same building, heard his cries and alerted the police, who reached the site around 3:25 am.

Sagar’s neighbour Wasim Shaikh had taken him to the Sub-District Hospital in Chicalim, where the injured man was given first-aid. Thereafter Sagar was moved to GMC, from where he was taken back to the Sub-District Hospital. However, Sagar was moved back to GMC. His 12-year-old daughter suffered blows to her hand while trying to protect her father from the assailants.

Sagar Nayak is presently back home, but has not returned to his own apartment, as he is still recovering from the dacoity and is traumatised. He is staying with his brother’s family and is urging for stronger security measures in residential buildings.