Bengal: One arrested in Kolkata mattress shop robbery case

Kolkata, Aug 26 (IANS) One person has been arrested in connection with the robbery of Rs 1.3 crore at a mattress store in Kolkata last week, police said on Wednesday. According to investigators, a gang from Rajasthan is behind the incident.

A hawala businessman named Lalit Mundra was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the robbery. After reviewing CCTV footage, police arrested him in Salkia, Howrah district. Officials said Mundra acted as the “tipper” for the robbers and had called them from Rajasthan.

The Kolkata Police team is now heading to Bikaner, Rajasthan, in search of the robbers. At the same time, three employees of the mattress shop went missing after the robbery. Based on this information, police uncovered further details suggesting that similar robberies had taken place at other shops owned by the mattress business owner in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

Complaints of robberies worth several crores of rupees have been filed in those states. Another office of the same mattress owner in Kolkata’s Survey Park was also looted last May. Police are probing whether the owner’s acquaintances are repeatedly involved in the robberies.

Police said that last Wednesday, three robbers entered the mattress shop on Cotton Street in Kolkata’s Posta area. With towels tied around their faces, they brandished revolvers and robbed employees of Rs 1.3 crore before fleeing. CCTV footage showed a man leading the robbers to the shop.

During the robbery, he was seen sitting in a nearby shop, drinking tea and making phone calls. Moments later, the robbers left the shop, and he followed them.

From this evidence, police identified him as Lalit Mundra, a hawala operator. On Tuesday, police raided his house in Salkia but found him missing. They then rushed to Howrah station, where it was discovered that he had boarded a Gujarat‑bound train. He was arrested twenty minutes before the train’s departure.

During interrogation, Mundra claimed that the Rs 1.3 crore belonged to hawala. Police said the robbers fled from Howrah station to Madhya Pradesh after the robbery. Although their homes are in Bikaner, investigators said they will conduct searches in Rajasthan based on the information received.

–IANS

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