A team of policemen from Swargate police station was in for a rude shock when it reached Bibvevadi-Kondhwa Road to arrest a group of sandalwood thieves yesterday.
Au00a0team of policemen from Swargate police station was in for a rude shock when it reached Bibvevadi-Kondhwa Road to arrest a group of sandalwood thieves yesterday. Relatives of the thieves pelted stones on the police when they reached the area.
This is not the first time sandalwood thieves have attacked police officials. Last month a sandalwood thief attempted to attack ACP Vitthal Pawar in Hadapsar when Pawar retaliated and the thief was injured. The thieves had also stoned and damaged Pawar's vehicle and fled from the spot.
When the relatives of the sandalwood thieves started pelting stones on the police team yesterday, other residents came runningu00a0 in from the other direction to confuse the police. In the meantime, the accused fled.
"This was a strategy to divert our attention," said a constable from the Swargate police station.
The incident took place after Swargate police nabbed five sandalwood thieves out of a group of around 15, around 5 am yesterday. A watchman at Adventis Trusts land in Salisbury Park alerted the police, saying sandalwood thieves had entered the premises.
Some of the arrested suspects were identified as Nardesh Rajput, Gohit Rajput and Chelkumar Rajput.
Then, the officials went to Bibvevadi-Kondhwa Road to arrest the remaining suspects. "The thieves are from Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh," said PI Rajkumar Gaikwad. "Primary interrogation revealed that they were staying in shanties on Bibvewadi-Kondhwa Road."
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