The Thane Crime Branch has arrested eight accused for allegedly robbing two Ahmednagar natives on the Mumbai-Nashik highway earlier this month. The police have also found indications that the accused may have been involved in an illegal beef sale racket, and are further verifying this.
The victims, Naushad Sheikh and his helper Sohail Sheikh, who are in the meat business, were on their way from Dongri in Mumbai to Sangamner, back home, after making a delivery and collecting payment when they were allegedly robbed, police said.
“As soon as the victims’ car neared the Kharegaon toll plaza, the accused blocked their path with their own car, and some of them broke into the victims’ vehicle. The victims were assaulted and forced out and the accused decamped with their car, which contained ₹4.44 lakh in cash,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Deepak Deoraj, Thane Crime Branch said.
Mr. Sheikh subsequently filed a complaint with the Kalwa police, and the Unit I of the Thane Crime Branch was instructed to conduct parallel inquiries.
Using technical intelligence, the Unit I picked up Maujham Sheikh (24), Ayub Ansari (22), Sayyed Musa (30) and Firoz Sayeed (24) from Gulbarga in Karnataka on Tuesday. Based on the results of their interrogation, the police went on to arrest Mohammad Sheikh (33), Mohammad Sheikh (40) and Wahid Sheikh (22) from their homes in Bhiwandi on Wednesday night.
“Investigations also revealed that Aavez Sheikh (22), a friend of the victims, had alerted the accused about their movements, based on which the entire robbery was planned. He, too, was arrested on Wednesday night. We have also identified one more accused. Akbar Sheikh (24), and are looking for him,” Mr. Deoraj said.
According to inquiries so far, the accused are habitual offenders and target people travelling on highways at secluded spots.
The police have also found serums that are injected into cattle to make them docile before slaughtering them for meat.
“The robbers knew Mr. Aavez as they all work in the meat selling industry. We suspect that the accused were selling cow meat. Inquiries so far indicate that they would remove the back seat of stolen cars and use the space to transport meat to various locations. However, the accused claim they were only selling buffalo meat. We are verifying whether they were involved in the illegal beef sale racket as well,” a Crime Branch officer said.
The accused have been charged with dacoity and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code, and have been remanded in police custody till September 25. The police have recovered ₹35,000 in cash along with five cell phones from the accused.
