Full sleeve T-shirt of robber helps police crack loot case

The police said that on the midnight of December 20, the four accused, identified as Vignesh Pandeyyan Nadar (23), Hemendra Haresh Patel (24), Shahnawaz Ahmad Siraj Ansari (19) and Aditya Premanand Teltumbde (21), hired the rickshaw from Govandi in Chembur.

The complainant in his statement to police said the group claimed that they wanted to go to Sion. Mid-way they asked him to follow their directions after which they took him to a secluded location, where they allegedly assaulted him.

“They abused the complainant, manhandled him and even smashed a tile on his head. The four accused then took money and valuables worth Rs 65,800 from the driver and escaped with his auto rickshaw,” said an investigator adding, “They took the rickshaw along as they wanted to ensure that Yadav does not follow them.”

The four subsequently drove the rickshaw to a residential society and parked it. Then they escaped. Yadav then approached Kurla police station where a case of robbery, intentionally insulting a person, criminal intimidation and common intention was registered and as the incident had started from the jurisdiction of Govandi police station, the investigation of the case was transferred there. The police started off their probe by checking the CCTV footage from the area where the incident started.

Sub inspector Amar Chede said, “The footage of the cameras at night was blurred. And as we could see that one of the accused was wearing a bright red colour full sleeve T-shirt, we decided to follow them through that.”

After scrutinising over 65 CCTV footage from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, the four accused were traced to Sanpada.

“They initially went to T-junction, from where they went to Sion hospital after which they took a cab to Sanpada,” said an officer. The police then raided the respective residences of the four and arrested them late on Saturday. The investigators suspect that the group has robbed several other rickshaw drivers as they have recovered some stolen mobile phones from the arrested accused. “We are trying to identify the victims,” said an officer.