Two Arrested After Lanka Encounter in Varanasi’s 27-Kilo

A July robbery in which men allegedly posed as crime-branch officers to take 27 kilograms of silver has led to two arrests after a late-night police encounter in Varanasi’s Lanka area, according to investigators.

Chowk Police and the Special Operations Group said they intercepted two suspects at Lautuvir on Monday night. Police identified them as Sabir and Mashallah, both residents of Pipariya in Madhya Pradesh’s Hoshangabad district. Investigators allege the pair were travelling in a white Baleno car and opened fire after leaving the vehicle when the team surrounded them.

Both suspects suffered gunshot injuries to their legs during the exchange, police said. SOG in-charge Gaurav Kumar Singh was also wounded in his right hand. The three injured men were taken to the trauma centre at Banaras Hindu University for treatment.

Police reported recovering four kilograms of silver and some cash from the spot. That is only part of the material said to have been taken, and officers say efforts to identify other associates and trace the remaining silver are continuing.

The case dates to July 16. According to the investigation, employees of jewellery trader Shashi Kumar Verma were carrying silver in the Chowk area when members of a group stopped them while claiming to be from the crime branch. The impersonation was central to the alleged robbery: the victims were confronted not by openly masked street robbers, but by men using the language and authority of law enforcement.

That detail makes the case particularly unsettling for Varanasi’s bullion and jewellery trade, much of which moves through dense old-city lanes where vehicles, carriers and handcarts share limited space. Traders routinely depend on predictable routes and trusted staff. A gang imitating police can exploit the hesitation most people feel before challenging an officer.

Assistant commissioner of police Atul Anjaan said the Lanka operation followed information about the suspects’ location. Police say the legal process and interrogation will now focus on the wider group and the unrecovered property.

As with every encounter account, the sequence described by police will require examination through evidence: the vehicle, weapons if recovered, forensic material, medical records, CCTV footage and witness statements. The arrested men are accused, and guilt can be established only by a court.

For the city, the immediate breakthrough is the recovery and the arrests. The larger test is whether investigators can reconstruct the full impersonation network and return the rest of the silver without leaving unanswered gaps in a case that began with stolen authority as much as stolen metal.