Mira-Bhayandar: Less than 72 hours after they robbed a businessman from Gujarat during his visit to Mumbai, three autorickshaw drivers landed into the custody of the Kashimira police on Wednesday. On a business trip to Mumbai, the 35-year-old complainant Jignesh Goswami was staying at a lodge in Kashimira.
After having dinner at a restaurant on the highway, Jignesh boarded an autorickshaw and headed towards the lodge at around 10:45 pm on December 9.
Modus operandi of the perpetrators
Two bikers who were apparently in-pursuit stopped the auto-rickshaw mid-way and started accusing Jignesh of being in possession of drugs. Despite claiming ignorance, the duo forcefully snatched his gold chain worth ₹1.75 lakh and fled the spot. An offence under section 392 was registered at the Kashimira police station.
Police take help of CCTVs to nab accused
A team under the supervision of senior police inspector Sandip Kadam started investigations by scanning CCTV cameras installed at the crime spot and possible getaway routes. The team identified the driver on the virtue of the number plate of the auto-rickshaw captured by the CCTV cameras.
During questioning, the police suspected the involvement of the driver identified as 29-year-old Pradeep Savadkar who confessed to the crime which he committed along with his two accomplices identified as 26-year-old Jiaullah Khan alias Sonu and 38-year-old Arshad Khan both auto-rickshaw drivers who doubled up as robbers during the night. While the trio were arrested, the police impounded the auto-rickshaw and motorcycle, while recovering the stolen booty from their possession. Not ruling out their involvement in more such crimes, PSI-Shivaji Khade said further investigations into the case are underway.
