The state government on Friday pinned the blame for the recent spate of daring heists in south Bengal on gangs based in other states

Fourteen men have been arrested in connection with four such robberies and attempted robberies, mostly from other states, said Alapan Bandyopadhyay, adviser to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, during a news conference on Friday.

Bandyopadhyay was accompanied by the state’s additional director-general of police, law and order, Manoj Verma.

“Seven members of a gang from outside Bengal were arrested in connection with the dacoity in Purulia’s Raghunathpur. Six firearms were recovered. One person has been arrested following raids across parts of Bihar in connection with a robbery at a shop in Howrah’s Domjur,” Bandyopadhyay said.

At least two robberies were foiled.

“The police arrested gang members before they could rob two shops under Jamuria police station in Asansol-Durgapur (police commissionerate) and Bankura police station,” Bandyopadhyay said.

The official referred to Bihar and Jharkhand while speaking about an arrest made in connection with a heist at a jewellery shop in Howrah’s Domjur and in connection with the dacoity in Raghunathpur in Purulia respectively.

The Bengal government thanked the police of both these states for extending their cooperation during the raids.

On June 11, a group of four armed men looted a jewellery shop — MS Gems and Jewellers Sons — in Howrah’s Domjur a little after noon.

The store on Howrah-Amta Road, around 20km from the heart of Calcutta, is barely 150 metres from the nearest police station. The robbers allegedly drove past the station after the heist.

The heist at the Domjur jewellery shop came within three days of a similar attempt at a jewellery shop in Raniganj.

A gang of seven to eight armed robbers barged into a jewellery shop in Raniganj. They got involved in a gunfight with the police when the cops tried to intercept them.

The robbers escaped in a private car from Asansol after injuring its owner. They fled towards the Jharkhand border.

The dacoity at a shop in Bankura’s Raghunathpur took place in 2022. It was followed by three others in the same area, Verma said, adding seven persons have been arrested during the investigation in these cases.

“In the Domjur robbery case, one person has been arrested from Samastipur in Bihar. Raids were on for other members of the gang,” Verma said.