by Alberto Pinna
A group of eight robbers blocked state road 131 in the province of Sassari with machine guns and paramilitary uniforms. Violent firefight, panic among motorists (some injured). Anti-robbery plan launched, manhunt across the region. It is the second case in a few months and now concern is growing
SASSARI Robbery of a caravan of armored vehicles carrying valuables, shooting of cars set on fire: perhaps one of the bandits was hit, seriously injured and fleeing with his accomplices. Four vigilantes and three motorists were also injured (not seriously) involved in a rear-end collision during the attack by the commando. Terror among a hundred motorists, manhunt with helicopters and checkpoints throughout the province of Sassari.
The robbery just before 8.30 on the very busy “Carlo Felice”, the four-lane backbone that connects Sassari and Cagliari, at the crossroads with Siligo (25 kilometers from Sassari) very close to a supermarket, is a photocopy of two others, one a few kilometers away (November 2022), the other a few months ago in south-eastern Sardinia.
At least 8 bandits, road blocked with a chain, nails scattered on the asphalt, two hooded men in camouflage uniforms advanced with weapons in hand towards a waste compactor van and made the driver get out, placed the vehicle sideways and they set it on fire. Blockage also on the other lanes, with a collision between oncoming cars (slightly injured) and some set on fire.
Shortly afterwards the Vigilpol armored vehicles arrived and all hell broke loose. Gunshots – rifles, pistols and Kalashnikovs – at eye level and in the air, terrified motorists, vigilantes forced out of armored vehicles. From the supermarket they saw everything and immediately called the police and carabinieri.
Within about ten minutes, three police patrols arrived at the Siligo crossroads, with the reinforcement of a helicopter. The bandits, intercepted, were caught in the middle, one of them hit by fire, including accomplices, in an attempt to open an escape route.
Among the «Vigilpol» security guards, one was wounded in the leg by a bullet; the other, who was driving the first vehicle, was seriously injured in the accident and was rushed to hospital by air ambulance; two others had hematoma from the rear-end collision.
The commando men managed to take away some boxes with cash from one of the armored vehicles. “They opened the vehicles with circular saws,” one of the police leaders said on the spot. The loot could be huge, awaiting confirmation that among the valuables transported there were significant cash sums intended for the payment of pensions starting tomorrow.
The arrival of the carabinieri and police forced the robbers to retreat hastily: other accomplices were waiting for them on a nearby provincial road in a pick-up and a Panda, which were abandoned a few kilometers further on. A short distance away, in the parallel road, a container with explosives was also found, which the criminals intended to use. “It was already primed and ready to explode, it was a very big danger,” said the police manager on site. A bomb squad is working to defuse it.
The research focuses on two directions: the provincial road that borders the towns of Siligo, Banari and Ittiri and the agricultural penetration roads that from Bonorva allow you to reach the province of Nuoro. The regional anti-robbery plan has been activated: more than one hundred men have been mobilized between the police and carabinieri.
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January 31, 2024 (modified January 31, 2024 | 3:43 pm)
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