In what resembled a scene straight out of a Bollywood chor-police flick, a few vigilant citizens and a team of alert cops nabbed three burglars after a long chase on deserted city roads in the wee hours yesterday.
The accused — Gaurav Singh Taak (24), Sangram Singh Taak (25), and Ballu Singh Taak (26) — are residents of Hadapsar and had robbed three houses in Kothrud and Karve Nagar yesterday morning. But they were spotted by alert citizens while they were trying to flee with the booty.
Tight race: Dnyaneshwar Phadtare with the booty that cops recovered from (left) Gaurav Singh Taak, Sangram Singh Taak and Ballu Singh Taak. Pics/Sandip Kolhatkar
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The twist
“Around 2.20 am, the police control room received a call from Uday Dangarikar, a resident of Mangalmurti Apartment in Erandwane. No sooner the patrolling team led by Assistant Police Inspector S D Deshmukh of Kothrud police station got the message, than it rushed to the spot and discovered that an apartment had been robbed,” said Dnyaneshwar Phadtare, DCP (Zone I).
While the team was still at the spot, Deshmukh received another call from the control room that two other flats were robbed in Motiram Park on Karve Road. “When we reached the spot, we saw that several society members had assembled in the building and Vrunda Tambe, who had called the control room, told us that three people had broken into a flat and were trying to break into another,” Deshmukh said.
He added, “Tambe said she saw the burglars, and when she tried to alert other residents the gang threatened her. After the altercation with Tambe, the robbers rushed down from the third floor, went to the basement, got into a parked SUV, started the vehicle by using a broken scissor and fled from the spot.”
However, Mahesh Kalkar, a driver who was sleeping inside a vehicle parked in the basement, saw the robbers and helped cops track the vehicle.
Cut to the chase
“After we got the car’s number from Kalkar, we immediately alerted other police stations. Also cops from Kothrud, Deccan, Khadak, Vishrambaug, Dattawadi and Swargate police stations were asked to stop the car,” Deshmukh said.
After fleeing from Motiram Park, the robbers reached Swargate Chowk where they saw heavy police. When they realised that they were cornered, they abandoned the car and tried to escape. Cops caught Gaurav Singh and Sangram Singh. However, Ballu Singh managed to escape. He, was later, arrested from Dandekar bridge within half an hour. The police recovered the burgled booty from trio, which included gold and silver ornaments, and Rs 7 lakh in cash.
Alert citizens
Phadatare, appreciating the vigilant residents and the police team, said, “It’s only because of some excellent coordination between several police stations and cooperation by residents, that our team could nab these hardened criminals.” u00a0Commissioner of Police Meeran Borwankar felicitated the Samaritans, and the staff of Kothrud police station. u00a0
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