Mumbai Crime: Bike-borne man held for robbing women on pretext of giving lifts

A 38-year-old man from Neral was arrested by the Mahatma Phule police for robbing women by luring them on the pretext of giving them lifts. He would always wear a helmet to avoid being identified. The arrested accused was identified as Pravin Sakpal. He was arrested on November 20, and has been remanded in police custody.

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Inspector Shrikant Dharene from Mahatma Phule police station, said that in past two months incidences of women being cheated by a biker had become frequent. "We observed that Sakpal used to come on an Activa and mostly target women on their way home in the evening. We had even collected CCTV footage, but as he used to wear a helmet we couldn't identify him clearly. The two-wheeler number was also not clear. So we stationed people at different spots to catch hold of him," said Dharene.

On November 20, a team from Mahatma Phule police station saw Sakpal had robbed a woman and followed him. "When he reached a bridge, he stopped and after taking the cash from a purse, threw it away. Our personnel caught him," added Dharene. Dharene claimed that Sakpal has admitted to cheating five women.

Sakpal said he used to keep watch on women near Kalyan station. "He would get details about a woman and information about her family. He would then approach the woman and convince her that he would drop her to her destination. He would offer to keep her purse or bag ahead with him so she could sit comfortably. After reaching the destination he would ask her to wait while he parked and then flee with the belongings," said an officer.

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