The Navi Mumbai Crime Branch’s central unit has arrested two men for robbing a businessman of ₹86,000 in cash.
The accused, Shubham Subhash Patil (24) and Vishal Sopan More (19), had robbed a businessman from Nerul on the night of August 12, following which a case was registered on August 13. The accused were traced and arrested on August 16. On the night of August 12, Mr. Patil and Mr. More robbed Hemant Gupta, who ran a shop selling computer parts in the Nerul railway station complex.
“Mr. Patil was waiting nearby, and when he saw that Mr. Gupta opened the lock of his car, he entered it, held a pistol to Mr. Gupta’s temple. He then claimed he was from the police department and asked him to accompany him to the police station. Mr. Patil hit Mr. Gupta with the pistol and it broke. That is when Mr. Patil realised the pistol was fake and retaliated, but Mr. Patil managed to make away with Mr. Gupta’s bag, which contained ₹86,000 in cash,” police sub-inspector Rani Kale from the Crime Branch said. Mr. Patil rushed out, got into an autorickshaw and fled the spot. Mr. Gupta then approached the Nerul police on August 13 and registered a case, which was transferred to the Crime Branch.
“We found CCTV footage of Mr. Patil and his partner Mr. More keeping a watch on Mr. Gupta days before the crime took place. Using the registration number of the autorickshaw, we found that the auto belonged to Mr. More and nabbed him, and later Mr. Patil,” senior police inspector Nivrutti Kolhatkar from the central unit said. The two were arrested from Ajivali village in Panvel taluka. According to police, they had previously robbed a Kharghar shop and are under investigation for similar crimes elsewhere. The accused will be in police custody till August 21.
