Two robbers posing as policemen robbed a diamond merchant of jewellery worth Rs 5.96 lakhs at Malad (east) this morning.

The victim, Chandrashekar Shukla, was walking along Rani Sati Marg around 11 am, when two men accosted him, saying they were policemen in plain clothes. They forced Shukla into a rickshaw under the pretext of taking him to the nearby police station for interrogation. When the rickshaw reached Thakur Complex, the robbers forced Shukla to part with his diamonds and took the rickshaw to Dahisar. At Dahisar, the two alighted from the rickshaw, where two persons were waiting for them on bikes, and disappeared.

Runaway minor held

Unable to take the constant beating from his parents after failing in the Std X exams, a 15-year-old boy from Howrah district in West Bengal stole Rs 48,000 in cash and gold ornaments from the family cupboard and fled to Mumbai.

V P Road police said the youth, Rahul Dasgupta (name changed), son of a rich cloth merchant,was taken into custody on grounds of suspicion following a raid on guest-houses at Maulana Shaukatali Road.

When police recently raided Paradise Guest House near Alankar Cinema, they noticed the boy staying alone in one of the rooms. When they searched his room, they found Rs 48,000 in cash and gold ornaments. Hence they took him into custody.

During interrogation, the boy revealed he had run away from home because he could no longer take the beating from his parents. He confessed he had stolen the money and the ornaments from his mother's cupboard and arrived in Mumbai a few days ago. Since the boy is a minor, he has been sent to the Children's Remand Home, Umerkhadi. Police said the boy's parents have been informed.

Extortionist nabbed

V P Road police recently arrested an extortionist, Hridaynarayan Pandey (23), who had threatened several traders part of the metal industry at Sarvodaya Nagar, Bhuleshwar.

Police said Pandey, who had worked with many metal companies, had obtained allinformation about traders in the industry and their families. He had threatened the secretary of the metal industry association and several metal shop owners and demanded exorbitant amounts from them. He used to call traders under the name `Abdul.'

After receiving many complaints, VP Road police sprung into action and nabbed Pandey after tapping the phones of one of the complainants. Pandey was picked up from Andheri railway station by constables Harde and Mulki, PSI V Joshi and API Kilje, under supervision of senior PI Suresh Jadhav.

Bail pleas in seized animals case

Additional Sessions Judge Abhay Thipsay today adjourned the anticipatory bail applications of Debashish Ghosh, owner of Ashoka Farmhouse, Goregaon, and his employee Jagatkumar Shah to November 9 after forest department officials told the court they didn't wish to arrest them right away.

Special public prosecutor R N Mishra said the two have been called for interrogation on November 5, 1998. The judge, after hearing both sides,adjourned the application and decided to review the matter after additional material was collected by officials of the forest department. Mishra told the court the two wouldn't be arrested by department officials till then.

Ghosh and Shah moved Sessions Court on Wednesday after the forest department raided their private zoo and seized four leopards and three kites on October 26 following their failure to produce relevant documents.