Couple held for robbing commuters on Thane-Belapur Road
The accused – identified as Sagar Patil (21) and Arpita Pawar (20) – used to roam in a scooter and flag down passing cars to stop. Seeing a woman, the car occupants would stop assuming it to be an emergency. Then, Patil and Pawar would rob them of cash and mobile phones by threatening a molestation case against the driver.
Navi Mumbai: A couple was arrested on Saturday for allegedly pretending to be in distress and robbing four-wheeler occupants at night on the Thane-Belapur highway.
The accused – identified as Sagar Patil (21) and Arpita Pawar (20) – used to roam in a scooter and flag down passing cars to stop. Seeing a woman, the car occupants would stop assuming it to be an emergency. Then, Patil and Pawar would rob them of cash and mobile phones by threatening a molestation case against the driver.
On March 21, Tushar Dyaneshwar Khebde, a transporter from Kharghar, registered a complaint against the unidentified couple with APMC police for robbing him of valuables worth ₹10,000.
“While investigating, we found information that a couple used to loiter at night in a scooter with no number plate on the highways and accordingly our team started searching for them,” senior police inspector Tanvir Shaikh from APMC police station said.
The police team laid a trap and with the help of an informer, they called the couple to a market on the pretext of meeting a friend and nabbed them.
“Their modus was to target any random four-wheeler or heavy vehicle and wave them to stop. Seeing a young woman as the pillion rider, they would stop and then they would pick up a fight saying that they had dashed their scooter. When the argument heated up, the woman would start accusing the person of molesting her and would snatch money and phones. The accused had even pelted stones at few vehicles,” Shaikh said.
As per the police, Patil and Pawar were class 9 dropouts and knew each other as they stayed in the same locality. They spent the loot on cigarettes and alcohol and when they ran out of money, they would target another person.