Patna: A woman police inspector became the latest victim of an organised auto robbery gang in Patna, raising fresh concerns over passenger safety in the city. The officer, currently posted at the police lines, was robbed of her gold mangalsutra worth Rs 1.5 lakh while travelling in an auto-rickshaw on the Exhibition Road flyover in the Gandhi Maidan police station area.
The incident took place on July 28 when the inspector was returning from Chiraiyatad after visiting relatives. She boarded a shared auto headed towards Ashiana, in which two men were already seated. As the vehicle ascended the Exhibition Road flyover, it began to jerk abruptly, with the driver claiming a flat tyre and asking the passenger to disembark.
Unaware of what had happened, the inspector complied — only to later discover that her mangalsutra had been stealthily snatched during the brief chaos inside the auto. The suspects fled the scene immediately after.
She reported the theft the following day, and a case has been filed at Gandhi Maidan police station. Investigators are now scanning CCTV footage from the route taken by the auto in an attempt to identify the culprits.
The case has drawn attention to a disturbing pattern of crimes in Patna involving gangs posing as auto drivers and passengers to rob unsuspecting commuters — including members of the police force.
