Day or night, silver jewellers in Agra looted
VIJAY UPADHYAY
AGRA. These days, the Silver traders in Agra are in a fix over security in their trade. In the daytime, they are being waylaid by robbers and during nights, they fall prey to the police, in the name of checking.
In the past two months, about half dozen jewelers have been robbed of atleast 100 kg. silver jewelry in Agra and Firozabad, out of whom, two have fallen prey to greedy policemen who had snatched several kilograms of jewelry from the jewelers in the name of checking, after which, four policemen, including Devendra Bhushan, a deputy superintendent of police in Firozabad, have been charged of robbery. These incidents have created panic among the Agra jewelers who have now begun demanding for security in the silver markets, not only from the bandits, but the police as well
In the past two days alone, there have been three incidents of roadside robberies in Agra, with two involving the robbery of almost 50 kg. silver jewelry from jewelers, but the Agra police is yet to develop a strategy to extend protection to the jewelry markets of the town.
On Tuesday, a silver jeweler was shot and robbed by masked bandits in broad daylight while he was carrying about 25 kg. of silver chains with him on a scooter, the robbers are still to be apprehended. On Wednesday, another jeweler was robbed of about 15 kg. of assorted silver jewelry inside the SN Medical College of Agra by three bikers, again during the daytime.
Interestingly, the bandits who had committed the robbery on Wednesday, clashed amongst themselves on the division of the loot share the very same night, resulting in the death of one gangster while another was injured seriously and has not been placed under arrest by the police.
Talking to The Pioneer, Jagan Prasad Garg, Member of UP Legislative Assembly from Agra said that the silver jewelry trade has become the prime target of robbers, who have become adept in the art of waylaying silver traders and robbing several lacs worth of silver every month.
He said that the police had proved completely ineffective in controlling such crimes against jewelers and the BJP shall raise this issue publicly after a meeting that had been scheduled for Friday.
According to Om Prakash Chandiwale, President, Uttar Pradesh Sarrafa Association, the police played a significant role in the harassment of jewelry traders in Agra. He said that there were atleast 5 thousand people engaged in the silver jewelry trade in the densely populated markets of the old city but instead of providing protection to these traders, the police continually harassed the jewelers, openly extorting money from them in the name of curbing tax evasion in the silver trade.
He said that earlier too, Agra jewelers have been robbed of jewelry worth several lacs not only by robbers, but by some criminally oriented policemen as well as was revealed recently, when a number of policemen, including one Deputy Superintendent of Police were suspended for their involvement in extorting jewelry from a silver trader in Firozabad.
But the Agra police firmly refuted these allegations claiming that most of the jewelers in Agra were engaged in tax evasion and used unsafe methods of transporting jewelry for the fear of police checking, which attracted the anti-social elements into robbing them.
Talking to The Pioneer, Gulab Singh, Superintendent of Police, Agra City said that the Agra police had now setup mobile teams that shall prowl in the vicinity of the silver markets of Agra, looking out for anti-social elements who could pose threat to the jewelers.
(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)
For any queries or feedback - univijay@rediffmail.com, 9412282297, 9319108697
AGRA. These days, the Silver traders in Agra are in a fix over security in their trade. In the daytime, they are being waylaid by robbers and during nights, they fall prey to the police, in the name of checking.
In the past two months, about half dozen jewelers have been robbed of atleast 100 kg. silver jewelry in Agra and Firozabad, out of whom, two have fallen prey to greedy policemen who had snatched several kilograms of jewelry from the jewelers in the name of checking, after which, four policemen, including Devendra Bhushan, a deputy superintendent of police in Firozabad, have been charged of robbery. These incidents have created panic among the Agra jewelers who have now begun demanding for security in the silver markets, not only from the bandits, but the police as well
In the past two days alone, there have been three incidents of roadside robberies in Agra, with two involving the robbery of almost 50 kg. silver jewelry from jewelers, but the Agra police is yet to develop a strategy to extend protection to the jewelry markets of the town.
On Tuesday, a silver jeweler was shot and robbed by masked bandits in broad daylight while he was carrying about 25 kg. of silver chains with him on a scooter, the robbers are still to be apprehended. On Wednesday, another jeweler was robbed of about 15 kg. of assorted silver jewelry inside the SN Medical College of Agra by three bikers, again during the daytime.
Interestingly, the bandits who had committed the robbery on Wednesday, clashed amongst themselves on the division of the loot share the very same night, resulting in the death of one gangster while another was injured seriously and has not been placed under arrest by the police.
Talking to The Pioneer, Jagan Prasad Garg, Member of UP Legislative Assembly from Agra said that the silver jewelry trade has become the prime target of robbers, who have become adept in the art of waylaying silver traders and robbing several lacs worth of silver every month.
He said that the police had proved completely ineffective in controlling such crimes against jewelers and the BJP shall raise this issue publicly after a meeting that had been scheduled for Friday.
According to Om Prakash Chandiwale, President, Uttar Pradesh Sarrafa Association, the police played a significant role in the harassment of jewelry traders in Agra. He said that there were atleast 5 thousand people engaged in the silver jewelry trade in the densely populated markets of the old city but instead of providing protection to these traders, the police continually harassed the jewelers, openly extorting money from them in the name of curbing tax evasion in the silver trade.
He said that earlier too, Agra jewelers have been robbed of jewelry worth several lacs not only by robbers, but by some criminally oriented policemen as well as was revealed recently, when a number of policemen, including one Deputy Superintendent of Police were suspended for their involvement in extorting jewelry from a silver trader in Firozabad.
But the Agra police firmly refuted these allegations claiming that most of the jewelers in Agra were engaged in tax evasion and used unsafe methods of transporting jewelry for the fear of police checking, which attracted the anti-social elements into robbing them.
Talking to The Pioneer, Gulab Singh, Superintendent of Police, Agra City said that the Agra police had now setup mobile teams that shall prowl in the vicinity of the silver markets of Agra, looking out for anti-social elements who could pose threat to the jewelers.
(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)
For any queries or feedback - univijay@rediffmail.com, 9412282297, 9319108697
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