Looting spree at Pydhonie

MUMBAI, December 24: Business at Pydhonie is getting to be a costly affair. On Tuesday evening, armed gangsters held more than six business...

int(2)

MUMBAI, December 24: Business at Pydhonie is getting to be a costly affair. On Tuesday evening, armed gangsters held more than six businessmen at gunpoint and robbed them of their valuables. The losses are pegged at more than Rs 3 lakh.

This is not an isolated case, say local businessmen. They claim that this is the 11th incident of its kind in the last one week. And businessman who operate out of Pydhonie have been gripped by terror. The chemical bazaar at Nagdevi, cloth and plastic bazaars at D’souza Street and Samuel Street and adjoining markets have all experienced a spate of attacks in the last few days, which has made it difficult for traders to go about their business, they said. In a modus operandi by now all too familiar to the traders, a gang of 20-25 youth armed with choppers and revolvers lay seize to the premises, barge into building housing several petty business establishments, and brandishing weapons, loot victims of cash and other valuables.

“Last evening, I was taken by surprise when five armed men barged into my office and demanded money. They warned me not to raise an alarm and to step out of the office. While four of them surrounded me, one of them searched for the cash and other valuables. I later learnt that the 25-strong gang had looted seven offices in the building,” said a victim, who did not want to be named.

Story continues below this ad

Traders pin the blame on to the police, whom they accuse of doing little to nab the culprits. They submitted a memorandum to the police commissioner today, and threatened to keep the bazaars closed if the police department failed to provide them with adequate security and nab the culprits. “We have closed the bazaar today to protest the spate of robberies in the area. And the bandh might continue indefinitely if the police fails to take action,” said Jayesh Shah, president of the Plastic and Paper Bag Market Association.

The zonal deputy commissioner of police A K Dhamija said security around vulnerable areas will be beefed up to prevent the recurrence of any such incidents in the future. However, he refuted claims made by the businessmen that a series of incidents had taken place in the last few days.