
Lucknow: Investigations into the dacoity at a Prayagraj village early Monday in which a group of four unidentified armed dacoits killed a private watchman and decamped with cash and jewellery worth lakhs of rupees after injuring four persons, including three members of a textile merchant’s family, at three separate locations in Hetapatti Bazar, pointed at the handiwork of a West UP tribal gang whose members had escaped to their native village after executing the crime.
The five special police teams, who claimed to have compiled enough clues and evidence, have even carried out a series of raids in different parts of the state. Cops have also been probing the charge of a teenage girl, said to be the slain guard’s granddaughter, that she was sexually assaulted by the dacoits during the raid. A detailed medical report of the survivor is awaited.
Police teams have also interacted with injured persons to record the sequence of the crimes. Senior cops were probing whether the West UP gang that allegedly executed the crime had been behind similar crimes in eastern UP districts. Moreover, police have also been probing the details of gangs whose involvement had surfaced earlier in incidents of dacoity or robbery.
“Policemen have checked the whereabouts of criminals whose names surfaced in connection with loot and robbery cases in the past five years in trans-Ganga pockets and we have been interacting with neighbouring district and state police to gather more information,” said a senior cop.