At least four elderly women were robbed of their gold ornaments in the past 48 hours and police believe two men on a motorcycle wearing masks and posing as cops were involved in the robberies.
The two have been posing as cops and telling women on roads “it is risky to wear gold jewellery during the lockdown” and asking them to take off the ornaments, the police said.
In each of the four cases, reported in Entally, Shyampukur, Lake Town and in the Airport area on Thursday and Friday, the men had stopped the women walking alone and introduced themselves as police officers. They had offered the women a white paper and asked them to take off their ornaments and kept the package in their bags. But while keeping it, they replaced it with an identical package of costume jewellery, the police said.
In all the four cases, the women realised they had been cheated and robbed only after reaching home. They lost gold bangles, earring, and a gold chain, the police said.
The men have been caught on CCTV footage of the places where the women had been targeted but they had their faces covered in masks and were wearing caps, the police said. The CCTV grabs have been circulated across all police stations in Calcutta and in the Bidhannagar commissionerate’s jurisdiction.
“The description and modus operandi of the men matches with that of the members of the Irani gang. These men spoke in Hindi and broken Bengali. They were tall and well built… they used the same way to cheat and rob old people walking alone on roads just like the Irani gang,” an officer in Lalbazar said.
The Irani gang was active in Bowbazar, Girish Park, Hare Street and Burrabazar a few years ago. Members used to pose as cops. Investigations had then revealed that multiple gangs from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had operated in Calcutta in a similar way in the past.
The gang chose their target, considering the fact the elderly are more vulnerable during the pandemic and it is easier to confuse them citing the lockdown, the police said.
“If someone poses as a police officer and tells an elderly person on the road that it is unsafe to wear gold jewellery because roads are deserted during the lockdown, chances are they will get scared and listen to the advice. This gang utilised this opportunity,” an officer said.
The police are collecting more CCTV footage to get a picture of the motorcycle’s number plate.