Man held for drugging, robbing passenger on board Pune-Mumbai bus

A man was held from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly drugging and robbing passenger on board PuneMumbai Shivneri bus the police saidHe was held weeks after an advertising agency owner was robbed of his valuables allegedly by him after being drugged by offering a cup of coffee on board a PuneMumbai staterun AC bus police have arrested the accused from Uttar Pradesh officials said on Wednesday reported the PTIAccording to the PTI the accused 52yearold Yunus Shafiquddin Shaikh was arrested by a team of Matunga police in Mumbai on July 8 from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh an official saidThe incident had occurred on June 14 on board the PuneMumbai Shivneri bus operated by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation MSRTC he saidThe victim Shailendra Sathe 57 who owns an advertising and brand agency had boarded the Shivneri bus from Wakad in Pune to Mumbai The accused who was travelling with him in the same bus befriended him and offered a cup of coffee to him when the bus stopped at a food mall in Khalapur As Sathe fell unconscious later during the journey the accused stole his gold ornaments including a ring and a mobile phone the police official said the news agency reported on WednesdayAfter the bus reached Dadar in central Mumbai the MSRTC staff helped Sathe get down from the bus he saidAssuming that he was under the influence of liquor they left him on a footpath where he kept lying in an unconscious state for the next several hours he addedLater Sathe narrated the incident on his X handle LEFT TO DIE thrown on a footpath for 18 hours Hypnotised Drugged Robbed amp Ignored on a MumbaiPune Shivneri Bus in an acutely confused state Negligence No concerned authority helped in distress Found by family 80 hrs unconscious treated at Jupiter Hospital ThaneBased on his complaint a case was registered at Matunga police station on June 20 following which a probe into the case was launchedPolice teams went through the footage of CCTVs installed in the Shivneri bus and at other places including the Khalapur food mall Dadar and the Mumbai Central area he saidDuring the probe police teams zeroed in on two suspects and received information that they were from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh he addedA team was then sent to the Guzri Bazar area of Meerut and after mounting surveillance for three days Shaikh was apprehended by the Mumbai policeThe police recovered Sathes 30 grams of gold from Shaikh who worked as an estate agent in the area he saidDuring the probe the police found that Shaikh is a historysheeter and a notorious criminal in Meerut the official said adding that serious cases like murder attempt to murder and arson were registered against him in the pastHe was also involved in incidents like robbing passengers spiking their drinks or drugging them during the journey Similar cases were registered against him in Andhra Pradesh he saidFollowing his arrest he was produced before a local court and was brought to Mumbai on transit remand the official saidPolice are looking for an accomplice of Shaikh he saidwith PTI inputs