Posh areas of the city seem to be becoming soft targets of criminals quite often. Particularly, Paldi, Ellisbridge and Parimal Garden, where criminals strike with impunity. In the past six months, these areas have witnessed at least five incidents where criminals used guns to rob, kill or scare people. Thursday’s robbery incident at Parimal Garden is the fourth one in a row where a gun was used. The earlier incidents are firing by Balasubramanium Swami alias Ghetia Dada, firing at Chandranagar near Ramji Temple, and firing on the office of a cable operator.
The police, however, say that the law and order in these areas is under control. The police also claim that patrolling has been intensified after the first firing incident.
“Yes, the incidents took place but almost all of them have been detected. We have arrested the accused and put them behind the bars,” says senior police inspector, Ellisbridge, HM Kundaliya. He also denied that any firearms had been used in Thursday’s incident.
Eyewitnesses to the Thursday’s robbery, however, say one of the accused fired from a gun to scare the bank officials and members of the public. Laxman Desai, who pulled crowd by shouting, says: “The miscreants were in a Maruti 800 car and following the bank’s Maruti Esteem car. They overtook the bank’s car, then some people came out from it. While one of them fired at the car, others stabbed the bank officials.” When Desai shouted, a crowd gathered at the spot and started pelting stones at the miscreants.
Another eyewitness, Sanjay Bhatt, says the robbers were young. “They were in a white Maruti 800 car and they all looked young. I was riding my scooter and their car hit me. The car immediately took a left turn from the society and escaped towards Gujarat College,” he said. Though eyewitnesses say that the robbers’ car was following the bank’s car, police say that the robbers’ car was actually waiting for the bank’s car near the gate of Mruduchnadra Apartments.
Also, eyewitness say that there was a firing before the loot, but the police say that it was the sound of breaking the car glasses with a hockey stick, which was misconstrued as a gun shot.
FSL experts studying the spot told DNA that the miscreants seemed to be young and this could be their first robbery. “The way they have attacked the car and tried to take the cash seems very immature,” said an FSL expert, adding that the gang members should be around five people and four would have attacked the car.
