A robber's deaf-mute act, that saw him escape the police danda for years, was exposed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Thane on Thursday. Dattu Ramdas Pawar, 31, from Diva, is a seasoned robber and targets train commuters
Dattu Ramdas Pawar was last arrested for theft, in 2015
A robber's deaf-mute act, that saw him escape the police danda for years, was exposed by the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Thane on Thursday. Dattu Ramdas Pawar, 31, from Diva, is a seasoned robber and targets train commuters while posing as a passenger. On Thursday, following complaints registered with them, the GRP, who was on the lookout for Pawar, caught him as he was climbing into a train.
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Pawar immediately switched to his deaf-mute avatar, pretending not to understand what police personnel from GRP Thane were saying.
Senior police inspector (GRP, Thane) Uttam Sonawane said they did not believe for a moment that Pawar was deaf-mute and questioned him for hours. When he did not break, they called his family to the police station. When they brought his wife before him and asked her if he had a disability, she was surprised. Pawar immediately gave up his act and confessed to the robberies, Sonawane said. The police have recovered Rs 4.5 lakh worth of gold ornaments, a mobile phone and cash from a search conducted at his home.
The police said Pawar had committed three robberies during the recently-concluded Ganeshotsav festival. "Yogita Tawde, who had boarded the 5.45 am Diva-Sawantwadi local from Diva on August 28, had reported a robbery. A small purse in her bag, which contained 9.50 tolas of gold jewellery was stolen while she was on the train. DCP (Central GRP) Samadhan Pawar scanned the CCTV footage from the railway station and spotted a man behaving suspiciously. He was getting down from the women’s compartment. We scanned his profile to find that he was arrested back in 2015, in another robbery case," the officer said.
Sonawane said, "Initially, Pawar would answer our questions using sign language. After we brought his family in, he confessed to looting three passengers — two on the Diva-Sawantwadi local, and one on the Kanyakumari Express. We will soon contact the victims and return their possessions."
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