The Pune city police have recently arrested three persons for allegedly robbing Rs 47 lakh from a marketing agency staffer by threatening him with a ‘koyta’ (machete).
Mangalpuri Goswami, 55, who works for Panna Marketing Agency in Pimpri Chowk, had lodged an FIR in this case at the Samarth police station on March 23.
The three accused are Rushikesh Gaikwad, Kiran Ashok Pawar, and Akash Kapil Gorad – all residents of Upper Indira Nagar in the Bibwewadi area of Pune city.
The police said Goswami has been working for the Panna Marketing Agency for the last 30 years. He goes to the Bank of India’s Rasta Peth branch daily for depositing cash collected at the office.
At 11:30 am on March 23, two persons intercepted Goswami near Azad Chowk in Nana Peth. One of them pointed a sharp koyta at Goswami and snatched the cash.
The duo escaped from the spot on a two-wheeler. After receiving the complaint, assistant commissioner of police Satish Govekar formed teams to search for the robbers.
The probe revealed that the robbers fled towards Gajune in Pimpri Chinchwad after committing the crime. The cops collected videos captured by around 500 CCTV cameras at different locations.
A police team led by assistant police inspector Prasad Lonare zeroed in on an autorickshaw seen moving suspiciously. The police then arrested Gaikwad from Upper Indira Nagar Tuesday, as CCTV footage showed him sitting in the autorickshaw.
The police said Gaikwad used to work as a salesman for Panna Marketing Agency since 2019. But he was removed from his job following a quarrel in October 2022.
“Gaikwad earlier worked with Panna Marketing Agency. Hence, he knew that complainant Goswami carried a large amount of cash to the bank daily. Gaikwad hatched a conspiracy to loot the cash with the help of Pawar and Gorad,” said deputy commissioner of police Sandip Singh Gill during a press conference Wednesday.
Pawar and Gorad were nabbed later. Gorad has a previous criminal record. The police said the accused conducted a recce before the robbery. They also decided to commit the crime in “Drishyam movie style”, the police said.
Accordingly, Gaikwad came to the Panna Marketing Agency in an autorickshaw around 9 am on March 23. Pawar and Gorad also reached the spot. Gaikwad showed the man (Goswami) carrying the cash to the bank. Then, while Pawar and Gaikwad were following Goswami for robbing the money, Gaikwad went home and was sitting under the CCTV camera installed at his residence for the whole day.
But the cops have confirmed his involvement in the robbery. The police have so far recovered Rs 25 lakh from the accused. “Attempts are on to recover the remaining amount robbed by them,” said senior inspector Ramesh Sathe.
