Two individuals who posed as two officers from the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (Adsu) to rob two students on the afternoon of Monday February 26 are being actively sought by the Vacoas Criminal Investigation Division (CID). A police raid has already been carried out at the home of these two men, who have been identified but were absent.
The modus operandi of the two impostors in both cases is identical. In both cases, they spotted their prey, who were alone, before accosting them. In the first case, they posed as Adsu police officers. In both cases, one presented himself as an Adsu policeman and the second as a policeman attached to the Minors’ Brigade, a unit that no longer exists as it has been replaced by the Family Protection Brigade.
They intimidate their victims on the pretext that they suspect they are in possession of dangerous drugs. The students were subjected to a body search and their bags were unpacked. They pocketed Rs 200 and Rs 4000 respectively.
This case was brought to the attention of the police after a grade 10 student aged 16 accompanied by his father went to the Vacoas police station on the evening of Monday February 26 to report a case of robbery with violence. In his complaint, the student, a resident of Clairfond NO 1, Vacoas, recounted the circumstances in which he was accosted by the two individuals at Promenade Père Laval, Vacoas on his way home from school in the afternoon of the same day.
The two individuals told him they were going to search him because they suspected he was in possession of dangerous drugs. While one of the men was searching the pockets of his shorts, the second man was looking in his bag and came across a sum of Rs 200. He then inflicted a blow with a rattan, telling him, “…nou pou montre twa ki appel l’Adsu zordi.
On the afternoon of Tuesday February 27, a 17-year-old student reported a similar case to the police. Accompanied by his mother, he recounted his misadventure. He was walking near the Phoenix post office at around 2:35 p.m. on Monday February 26 when he was approached by two men. One introduced himself as a policeman from Adsu and the second as a policeman from the juvenile brigade.
It was almost the same scenario as for the other student. He was taken to the Promenade Père Laval, where he was searched. The criminals found a sum of Rs 4000 in the pocket of his backpack before fleeing.
The two suspects, who were identified on surveillance camera footage, are being actively sought by the Vacoas CID.
