An assistant sub-inspector of Kolkata Police was arrested yesterday for allegedly masterminding and planning a robbery in which a businessman was targeted. Two other persons who committed the robbery were also arrested.

Ashish Chandra, an ASI of the records section of Kolkata Police, allegedly hatched the plan to rob a jewellery businessman Bablu Nath. Nath (51), a resident of Nadia, had come to the city on 4 July, as he frequently does, to sell gold ornaments. At around midday, Nath was shoved inside a car in the Muchipara area by two persons who posed as police officers. They robbed him of a sum of rupees one lakh along with 50 grams of gold jewellery and a gold finger ring at a area near the airport.

Advertisement

Later Nath managed to escape from their clutches and lodged a complaint in Muchipara police station. Based on his complaint, police started scanning the CCTV footage of the area and nabbed ASI Chandra whose vehicle was used during the robbery. “We got to know of Chandra’s involvement in the case after we looked at the CCTV footage and identified the registration number of the vehicle in which the businessman was driven away. On tracking down the car number, we came to know that it was Chandra’s vehicle and immediately detained him. He has confessed to his crime,” said an officer investigating the case.

After interrogating him, police arrested two other persons, Nepal Chandra Dhar and Balai, who had kidnapped the businessman. Police suspect that at least two more persons are involved in the case and they are searching for the absconding men. The stolen items and the cash are yet to be recovered. Charges pertaining to robbery and kidnapping have been slapped against the three accused and they have been remanded in police custody till 16 July. Although there have been earlier instances when the ASI got involved in minor brawls, officers are still unsure about the motive behind his involvement in the robbery.