These 'Janmitra' are the villagers whom the police had connected with on social media through community policing to build their network
A robbery of an ATM cash van in Bemetara, Chhattisgarh was resolved in one and a half hours on Saturday, thanks to a wide network of villagers assisting the police on a WhatsApp group. The four accused, all of whom hail from Haryana, were caught in the fields by the public and handed over to the police. These 'Janmitra' are the villagers whom the police had connected with on social media through community policing to build their network.
A cash van came out of Bemetara district headquarters at 10.20 am Saturday to inject money into the State Bank of India's ATM. Four guards including a gunman were in it. Armed robbers stopped the cash van near Jalgaon, after threatening everyone and escaped with Rs 1.64 lakh. On receiving information about the incident, the police were alerted and they immediately blocked the district roads and started inspecting vehicles. Subsequently, it was reported that the people of Bagul village had caught the robbers. The villagers threw stones at the robbers' car and caught them.
DGP DM Awasthi disclosed the matter in a press conference here along with the officers involved in the operation — Bemetara SP Prashant Thakur and inspector general Himanshu Gupta of Durg Range.
Awasthi said, "The four accused of Haryana were arrested in just two hours with the help of social media. As soon as the information about the robbing reached the police, they messaged on the WhatsApp group formed under the Janmitra scheme. The volunteers then spread the message in their own networks. Villagers became active after the alert. The team attempted to stop the robbers on the basis of the vehicle described on WhatsApp. Villagers pelted stones at the robbers' car, about 13 km from the site of the incident. When the robbers fled, the public shared the location of the robbers on WhatsApp.
Thakur said the robbers were stunned by stone pelting and lost their balance. "As the car descended down the road, the villagers surrounded it. One of the accused fired a shot and tried to escape. By then, the police reached the spot and arrested them all."
Zee Media Newsroom
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