Five held for armed robbery at cotton trader's bungalow in Pune

Pune City police Tuesday claimed to have cracked the case in which four armed robbers allegedly held an elderly cotton trader and three others hostage at gunpoint at his bungalow here and decamped with cash and valuables worth Rs 57 lakh last monthCrime branch officials said they have arrested five people all residents of Mumbai including a son of the cotton traders driver who is the mastermind of the robbery that took place in upmarket Apte Road locality in Deccan area on January 16According to police the robbers had held cotton trader Hanskumar Khimji 79 his sisterinlaw Hemaji Chheda 63 his domestic aide and caretaker of the bungalowhostage During the investigation the crime branch officials received some leads and five people were arrested from Mumbai on Tuesday morning Shirish Sardeshpande deputy commissioner of police crime saidThe accused have been identified as drivers son Dipak Shivaji Medage 37 Kiran Tawde 36 Paras Solanki 27 Sachin Desoza 28 and Ganesh Gore 24 he said Sardeshpande said two more suspects were still at large and the crime branch teams have launched a manhunt to nab them Khemji wanted to sell off his Apte Road property His driver Shivaji Medage who has been with Khimjis for the last several years often used to discuss about it at his home the official saidHis son Dipak who would overhear his conversations about the property and the Khimjis came in contact with other suspects who have criminal background They decided to rob the family presuming that Khimjis have brokered a deal for their Pune property and are in possession with a lot of money Sardeshpande saidHe added that since Dipal Medage knew the bungalow in Pune he brought the four accused to the city on January 16 and showed them the place However he himself remained away from the place at a safe distance the official addedAfter the four accused barged into the bungalow and threatened the elderly people at a gunpoint they came to know that the family does not have much money except some cash and valuables Thereafter they sent one of the accused with the driver to Khimjis Mumbai office to bring Rs 1 crore the official said In the meantime when Chheda raised an alarm the remaining robbers developed a cold feet and fled away with the cash and valuables worth Rs 57 lakh They also alerted Medage and one more accused who was with the driver on their way to MumbaiWhile Medage and three others left for Mumbai in a private vehicle the accused who was going with the driver got down midway and escaped he said Sardeshpande said the driver Shivaji Medage was not involved in the crime and he had no idea of the conspiracy hatched by his son Further investigation is onCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever