A 17-year-old was also hand-in-glove with the gang of engineering students; claim they targeted bikers to make a quick buck, as pocket money they were getting from their parents was not enough to suit their lavish lifestyle
Lifestyle expenses led four engineering students and a minor to rob a software engineer of valuables worth Rs 32,000 in Pimpri early on Monday. However, their luck didn’t last very long, as the Pimpri police swung into action as soon as they received the complaint, and the gang was nabbed in a matter of hours.
Identified as Krishna Haridev More (29), Subhash Kashinath Meher (19), Jamshed Arfis Akhtar (19) and Mahesh Ramchandra Hadmore, the four youths are students of a reputed college in the city and are residents of Walhekarwadi. Meher hails from Ahmadnagar and Akhtar from Delhi. A 17-year-old boy was also a part of the gang and has been detained.
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“Virendra Bhavandas Sabnani was returning home on his two-wheeler after his shift at an IT firm in Hinjewadi early on Monday. He was close to the railway crossing near Military Dairy Farms in Pimpri around 3.30 am, when the five suspects, who were on two bikes, surrounded him and asked him to stop,” said police inspector Mohan Vidhate of Pimpri police station. The gang threatened Sabnani with sharp weapons and asked him to hand over all valuables and cash.
“The complainant tried to raise an alarm, but the gang started beating him and snatched his cell phone, gold chain, watch, and wallet containing ATM cards and PAN card. The total booty amounted to around Rs 32,000,” Vidhate added.
The gang then escaped towards the old Mumbai-Pune highway. Though shaken by the experience, Sabnani managed to note down the registration numbers of the bikes used by the suspects. He reached home, called up the police control and narrated what had happened.
Prompt action
“As soon as the control room despatched the information and details of the accused, we alerted the beat marshals from adjoining police stations through wireless and nakabandis were enforced at various places to nab the culprits,” said Vidhate.
All the suspects were apprehended from Walhekarwadi area in Chinchwad at a nakabandi. During interrogation, all four of them confessed to being students of a reputed engineering college and said that the pocket money their parents sent was not sufficient to support their lifestyle and, in a bid to mint extra money, they stole valuables and cash from travellers at knifepoint.
“We have recovered booty worth Rs 94,860 — including 10 mobile phones — from their rented accommodation in Pimpri and the college and their parents have been intimated,” said Vidhate. The four students have been remanded in police custody till Saturday and a further probe is on. u00a0
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