They put themselves in the shoes of police officers to commit a most audacious theft to the detriment of a resident of Helvetia, St-Pierre, on Wednesday October 6. These fake policemen left with a sum of Rs 400 000 at the home of a family they raided. This was following so-called complaints from neighbors that the family was involved in illegal activities. In less than 24 hours, real police officers from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Moka and those from the Field Intelligence Office (FIO), arrested three of these five impostors. They are Nikesh D. Ramudu, a 34-year-old real estate agent from Chemin-Grenier, Nitish Sithanen, 32 years old from Hermittage, Phoenix and Daren Ranjaya, 22 years old from L’Espérance, Trebuchet.
Nikesh Ramudu was the first suspect to be arrested by the men of Sergeant Rustom of the Mocha CID and those of the Eastern FIO led by Inspector Seebnauth. It is on the basis of certain information obtained in the field that these police officers traced Nikesh Ramudu to a rented house in Flic-en-Flac. The house where he was living was searched with a search warrant. The police seized a sum of Rs 15,000, a face dye, a bag, a screwdriver, a wrench and two balaclavas among others.
This case dates back to the morning of Wednesday, October 6 at around 11 am. A 32 year old woman was on the second floor balcony of her house when she saw a grey 4 x 4 enter her yard. Five individuals were in the vehicle. The one who was driving the vehicle introduced himself as a police officer and asked to see his father-in-law. This followed complaints recorded by neighbors.
This man explained to the thirty-year-old that they are in possession of a search warrant and that they came to her house to conduct a search, because they are suspected of money laundering. But at no time did the complainant say that they showed her this warrant, this document. It was in a drawer at the bottom of the bedside table in her room that one of these men seized a large sum of money. “Be ala li la samem ki appel blansiman larzan,” the individual driving the vehicle shouted at him. They left with the money, several checks and a cell phone belonging to his father-in-law. Before leaving, they had to tell the thirty-year-old woman that they would not arrest her because of her young child and that for her father-in-law, he is an elderly person.
Her husband, who came back soon after, had to tell her that the stolen amount is about Rs 400 000. After a statement was made in the late afternoon of Wednesday, October 6, the CID of Moka was seized of this case. On the basis of this information, they went to Flic-en-Flac and arrested Nikesh Ramudu. Subjected to a close interrogation, this real estate agent was quick to confess his participation in the theft and to incriminate his accomplices. Thus, during the day of Thursday Nitish Sithanen and Daren Ranjaya were apprehended.
The three suspects were brought before the court of Moka on Friday, October 8. They were later returned to police cells. The other two suspects are being actively sought.
