In a robbery that appears straight out of the Bollywood thriller Special 26, five men posing as Income Tax officials looted a contractor's home in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district on Friday. The gang escaped with 500 grams of gold, cash, and mobile phones after locking the residents inside their own house.
The heist unfolded around 10:00 am in the Brahmin Mohalla area of Bagh town. The accused arrived in a black Scorpio SUV and targeted the residence of contractor Rajkumar Malvi.
Upon entering, the men identified themselves as officers from the Income Tax Department. They claimed to have received information regarding "black money" stored on the premises. Believing the raid to be a genuine government operation, Malvi cooperated as the men searched wardrobes, trunks, and cupboards.
The impostors eventually demanded the keys to the family locker. They seized approximately 50 tolas (500 grams) of gold jewelry, Rs 4 lakh in cash, and three mobile phones. To ensure a clean escape, the gang locked Malvi and his wife, Krishna, inside a room before fleeing the scene.
The couple remained trapped until Malvi managed to alert neighbours, who then informed the police. Senior officers, including Kukshi SDOP Sunil Gupta and Bagh TI Kailash Chauhan, reached the spot to begin the investigation. During a search of the escape route, police recovered one of the stolen mobile phones from a garbage dump near a bypass road.
Dhar Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi stated that the crime appears to be a well-coordinated robbery. "A cyber team has been sent to Bagh, and police across the district are on high alert. CCTV footage of the black Scorpio is being analysed, and teams are searching for the accused," he said.
Police have released CCTV images of the vehicle used in the crime and have urged the public to share any relevant information. A case of robbery and impersonation has been registered at the Bagh Police Station. Investigators believe the gang may have conducted prior reconnaissance of the area before executing the raid.
