Thieves break into retired judge's home, one stands with rod over sleeping son while others ransack room

Indian Express

6 days ago

A gang of masked burglars broke into the home of a retired judge, Justice Ramesh Garg, in Madhya Pradesh's Indore and escaped with cash and valuables worth several lakhs, police said.
Days after the burglary, the CCTV footage of the incident went viral, showing the masked men ransacking a room where Justice Garg's son, Ritvik, slept. One of the masked men stood with an iron rod, ready to strike if he woke up.
The men escaped with the stolen goods while the family slept in separate rooms.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rupesh Dwivedi told The Indian Express, 'We can't say whether the son was sleeping or pretending to sleep (to avoid being assaulted). Our investigation is focused on the three masked men. There was a security guard at the gate, but they still managed to enter. We have formed teams to track the accused.'
The incident occurred on Raksha Bandhan, the same day a spate of similar robberies was reported in nearby areas. Police have recovered CCTV footage from multiple locations, all showing masked and gloved criminals operating in an organised manner.
The three men were spotted outside Justice Garg's home around 4 am. The thieves entered the bungalow around 4:30 am by cutting through an iron grill while a security guard was present on the premises. The CCTV footage shows the three criminals moving directly to Ritvik's room, while his wife and children slept in another room.
At 4:35 am, the trio entered the house. One criminal stood guard with the rod while the others worked to break the cupboard lock. The cupboard lock broke at 4:37 am and the alarm sounded, but Ritvik remained motionless. The criminals removed cash and jewellery at 4:38 am and left the room a minute later as the alarm continued to sound.
The following morning, the police were alerted, following which a team of senior officers from the district, including a sniffer dog team, was dispatched. The accused had worn gloves throughout the operation, leaving no fingerprints, police said.
Justice Garg, who retired as Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court in June 2010, had a distinguished judicial career spanning multiple high courts across India. He was first appointed as the Additional Judge of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on December 15, 1994 and a Permanent Judge on July 19, 1995.
Following the bifurcation of Madhya Pradesh, he served as the First Judge & Acting Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh from November 1, 2000, to October 31, 2001. He subsequently worked as a Judge of the High Court of Patna from November 1, 2001, to February 26, 2005, before joining as a Judge of the High Court of Gujarat on February 28, 2005.
Justice Garg was transferred back to the High Court of Madhya Pradesh on September 17, 2007, and served as Acting Chief Justice from November 16, 2009, to December 19, 2009. He was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Guwahati High Court on April 17, 2010 and retired on June 18, 2010.