Visakhapatnam: With the growing incidence of criminals robbing innocent people at gunpoint, the crime wing of Visakhapatnam city police started to keep a tab on the toy guns which were used in a couple of incidents recently.
Citing a recent incident, crime ADCP of Vizag police D. Gangadharam told DC on Saturday that a young man brandished a gun and demanded gold ornaments from a woman who was returning home after visiting a temple. When she resisted, he attacked her with a knife and fled from the spot, taking away her three tolas of ornaments. He was later caught by the people and police recovered the gold from him.
“The culprit bought the toy gun online for Rs. 1,200 and has been using it to rob people during dark hours,’’ the ADCP said.
In another incident, a man pointed a gun at a couple who were going home near the RTC Complex.
When the man resisted, the culprit slashed his arm with a knife and fled from the spot.
The City Task Force personnel found two such guns in possession of two ganja smugglers running away from the check post in Araku Valley.
The ADCP said during an interrogation of these criminals, the police found that most of the anti-social elements are purchasing these toy pistols to threaten rival gangs or rob people.
He said the commissioner of police Ch. Srikant has taken a serious view of this new modus operandi and asked the crime police to increase the night patrolling to frisk the suspicious elements.
These criminals mostly use these guns during the dark hours to convince the victims that they were real guns.
Some cigarette lighters are in the shape of a gun and the criminals are hoodwinking the beat cops stating that it was for fashion and not for criminal activities, the ADCP added.
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