Pune Crime: Techie robbed of Rs 2.5 lakh by driving tutor during lesson

Photo for representational purpose

A mundane lesson went terribly off road in the Kondhwa area in Pune early on Tuesday morning, when a driving instructor robbed a young techie under the pretext of teaching her how to manage the wheels of her car.

As per a report in Pune Mirror, the accused, along with an as-yet unidentified accomplice, drove 35-year-old Sridevi Rao to an isolated area and forcibly made her transfer money via her phone to his account, got cash out of an ATM with her card, and also looted the gold jewellery she was wearing, divesting her of Rs 2.5 lakh in total.

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The accused instructor was known to the family and had been teaching the software engineer how to drive for the last eight days. She is in the city visiting her parents for Diwali holidays. On Tuesday afternoon, a case in this regard was registered at Kondhwa police station (PS) against one Rajesh Singh and another unknown man, who came along as Singh's sidekick to the crime.

Police informed, "The kidnap and looting incident took place between 8.30 am and 11.30 am. Thereafter, 35-year-old Sridevi Rao filed the complaint with us. She works with an IT company in Bengaluru. Her parents live in Kondhwa, and she had come visiting them on the occasion of Diwali. The complainant's father is an ex-armyman. Her driving instructor, Singh, is known to the father and for the last eight days, she was taking driving lessons from him. However, taking advantage of the good faith shared, the accused kidnapped the woman in her own car with the help of a friend, and robbed her of a couple of lakh rupees at knifepoint."

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The complainant told cops that Rajesh Singh, her driving instructor for a week, drove her to an isolated spot with an accomplice. He made her transfer Rs 40,000 via GPay, took out Rs 10,000 with her ATM card, and stole her gold jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh According to the first information report (FIR), she had been learning to drive in her family's van; accused Rajesh would come early every morning to her society on his two-wheeler, and they would take the complainant's car out for lessons. On Tuesday morning, the accused brought along a male friend and told the complainant that they would be teaching her how to drive her Fiat car instead.

Suspecting nothing amiss, she agreed to the lesson. Singh explained his friend's presence saying the man had to be dropped off at a bus stop on the way. Soon, they took the car via an isolated route in Undri, under the pretext of teaching her to drive without too much traffic around. At some point during the lesson, when the complainant faced a few difficulties, Singh insisted that he would drive for a bit. Thereafter, he zoomed off to a lonely spot, where they threatened the woman with a sharp weapon, demanding Rs 50,000.

The woman stated in her complaint, "I told them I do not have the money as I had forgotten my wallet at home. At this point, Rajesh started taking the car towards my house. My parents had gone to Hyderabad for a couple of days. Midway, he stopped the vehicle, tied my hands and gagged my mouth. He then demanded that the money be transferred via Google Pay and snatched my mobile phone. He demanded all required passwords and attempted to transfer the amount, but was unable to do so for the entire sum. Then, he transferred Rs 20,000 in two batches, amounting to Rs 40,000."

The FIR added, "However, he was not done. He demanded more money, and I repeated that my purse was not with me. He then took the car to my house, took the keys from me and went in, only to return with my purse. Rajesh drove me to an ATM machine and withdrew Rs 10,000 from my account. He then went to a shop and bought a cutter so that he could cut my four gold rings from my finger; he also took my gold chain. The jewellery alone was worth Rs 2 lakh or so. Finally, around 11.30 am, he dumped me outside my parents' house in the same state. I somehow managed to untie my hands and informed my parents about the incident. After that, I went and informed the cops."

Senior police inspector (SPI) Sardar Patil of Kondhwa PS said, "Cash and good worth Rs 2.5 lakh in total were looted from the complainant. We are investigating the matter and searching for both accused. A case is registered under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 394 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)."

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