10 men nabbed for robbing petrol pump manager

Tip-off to a constable led to the arrest of a trio that had hatched the plot, who then led cops to their accomplices

Eight days after petrol pump manager and his assistant were robbed of Rs 18.75 lakh in a daylight dacoity in Pimpri, officials of the Crime Branch have solved the case. The Pimpri police yesterday arrested 10 persons, including two real estate agents, who allegedly committed the crime to make easy money.

Crime never pays: Crime Branch officials said none of the suspects involved in the dacoity had a past criminal record; they committed the crime just to make some easy money

Acting on a tip-off received by constable Nasir Patel, Pimpri residents Amol Somnath Patil (29), Amol Prakash More (26) and Ganesh Raghunath Ahiwale (30) were nabbed on Monday from different locations. The three are the prime accused in the case.
Their interrogation led to the arrests of their accomplices — Abhijit alias Dadya Manik More (25), Anuraj Mohan Dhamale (19), Suryakant alias Pandya Shivling Kanade (25), from Pimpri, Aasif alias Jonny Habib Shaikh (20), from Lohiyanagar, Wajid Isaq Qureshi (19), from Bhavani Peth, Haji Aasif Khan (19), a resident of Ravivar Peth and Shaheed Gaffar Khan (23) from Ganesh Peth.

Recovered: Anti-Dacoity Cell officials recovered Rs 8.65 lakh of the Rs 18.75 lakh robbed from the pump employees; while the suspects claim they have spent the remainder of the cash, cops do not believe them; (inset) mid-day report on June 16 highlighting the dacoity. Pic/Mohan Patil

All the 10 accused were remanded in police custody till July 1 by a local court yesterday. A team of Anti-Dacoity Cell, led by Inspector Sunil Patil nabbed the accused.

While Ahiwale supplies fertilisers, Patil and More are real estate agents. More is financially secured, and it was his car that was used to commit the crime. Besides the four-wheeler, the police have seized five motorcycles, out of which three were stolen from different areas. The cops even managed to recover Rs 8.65 lakh. 

Copspeak
DCP (Crime) Jayant Naiknavare said, “Ahiwale first recced the Pimple petrol pump and then hatched the plot with Patil and More in their office. Since they were not ‘specialised’ in such crimes, they decided to hire youths who would help them execute the plan. None of the suspects are history-sheeters, but committed the crime for easy money. Moreover, their modus operandi indicated that a bunch of non-professionals carried out the job. Though the suspects claim they have spent the remaining cash, we have our reservations. We also probed the ‘insider involvement’ angle, but nothing credible has been found so far.”

Mid-day report on June 16 highlighting the dacoity. Pic/Mohan Patil

‘Change your timetable’
Naiknavare said petrol pump owners and managers follow a fixed timetable for depositing cash collected during the week, and the accused exploited this routine. “They attacked the manager and his subordinate while they were on their way to the bank. We request petrol pump owners and managers to change their timings and routes frequently, so that such incidents can be avoided in the future. Also, outward-looking CCTV cameras should be installed at the pumps to identify any suspicious movement on the roads,” DCP Naiknavare said.

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