The few droplets he earned as a collection agent for a wine shop did little to slake Haresh Goswami’s thirst. He collected a few people and formed a gang to rob liquor wholesalers’ collection agents on their way back with the day’s earnings in the Kalyan-Ulhasnagar area.
It helped that Mr. Goswami was not new to the business of crime. He has several offences, including a murder case, registered against him in the Thane Police commissionerate, said Thane Crime Branch officers.
Around a year ago, after securing bail in the latest case against him, he went to work as a collection agent for a wine shop in Kalyan. He used the time to study his potential victims and made mental notes. His employer, he observed, would make lakhs of rupees every day from the various bars in the Kalyan-Ulhasnagar area.
On the other hand, Mr. Goswami would travel with no security whatsoever and pass through several secluded areas on his way back to the shop, an officer with the Unit III of the Thane Crime Branch said.
Mr. Goswami got in touch with some of his old associates and formed a gang. They struck gold in January this year, robbing a collection agent of ₹6.5 lakh near RR Hospital in Kalyan.
Executed with care
The crime was executed with care; the idea was to confuse the collection agent. Senior Police Inspector Sanju John said, “Two vehicles with four men in it were driving ahead of the agent, while a third vehicle was following him. The robbers were all in touch with each other through their cell phones. At the pre-decided spot, one of the two vehicles in front of the target, which had Mr. Goswami in it, blocked his path. Mr. Goswami and his aide got off and hit the agent on the head with an iron rod, rendering him unconscious. The robbers in the car behind took his bag and the accused fled the scene. When the agent regained consciousness and approached the police, he said only two men had robbed him.”
On October 31 this year, a similar robbery took place at the same spot, where another collection agent was robbed, again of ₹6.5 lakh. As the area is secluded, identifying the accused was a challenge for the police.
Mr. John said, “We traced the victim’s movements through the CCTV cameras at the spots he visited, and identified two men who were seen following him. With the help of informants, we identified two of them as Mr. Goswami and Ganesh Sonawane, who were arrested over the past three days, along with four other accomplices. Three others are wanted in the case.”
The accused have been charged with dacoity under the Indian Penal Code, and have been remanded in police custody till Saturday.
