The 39-year-old was alone at his residence as his family was in their hometown in Andhra Pradesh; cops traced the accused using phone records and nabbed them
A senior income-tax officer was robbed in his own home last week, allegedly by a pimp and two prostitutes. The official told the Amboli police he had ordered a SIM card for an impending foreign trip and thought the trio had come to deliver it. Cops arrested the accused this week after tracing them using phone records.
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According to the Amboli police, B Satyanarayana Raju (39), a joint commissioner with the Income Tax department, approached them on June 18, saying that three people — a man and two women — had posed as sellers of international SIM cards on June 17, and, on finding him alone, robbed him.
In his complaint, Raju has said that he was planning to travel abroad in a few days and, hence, had ordered an international SIM card online. When the trio came home, Raju told the police, he thought they had come to deliver the SIM card. Upon realising that Raju was alone at home — his wife and daughter had gone to visit their hometown in Andhra Pradesh — the trio allegedly threatened him and demanded money.
Fearing for his life, Raju said in his complaint, he handed over cash, a gold chain, and a bracelet with a combined worth of R1.6 lakh. After the accused left, Raju then approached the police last week.
“Before visiting Raju at his house, there were calls exchanged between the accused and him. We traced the accused through the Call Detail Records and arrested them,” said a police officer from Amboli police station who refused to be identified.
The accused, Sandeep Sharma (28), a pimp, and the accompanying two commercial sex workers were arrested this week on charges of robbery and have been remanded to police custody.
Police claimed Sharma told them, during preliminary investigations, that he and the two women had landed up at Raju’s house following a “misunderstanding.”
Sharma said he was calling a customer when he accidentally dialled Raju’s number. On the I-T official’s part, he assumed the call was from a SIM card seller and then asked the accused to visit his Amboli residence. When the group landed up at Raju’s flat, they first had an argument. On realising that he was alone, the group robbed him.
R1.6 lakh
The total worth of valuables, including cash, the accused robbed from the I-T officer