Mumbai Crime: 2 drug addicts held for robbing labourers in Mankhurd, police recover stolen items

Mumbai: Within six hours of the crime, two drug addicts were arrested for allegedly injuring and robbing two labourers who live in a hut near the Panvel-CSMT harbour railway track in Maharashtra Nagar, Mankhurd. This was their third assault on the victims in a month, who didn't report the previous offences as the duo had threatened to kill them. The suspects were identified as Arjun Rai and Nikhil Sawant, both of them are residents of Maharashtra Nagar and aged 21. Their motive behind the crime was to make money to buy narcotics, said the police.

Duo stormed labourers' hut while they were asleep

On April 12 at around 1am, the duo stormed into the hut when the victims were asleep and started assaulting them, leaving one of the labourers badly wounded. They fled after robbing mobile phones, cash and whatever things they could get their hands on. One of the victims, who was less injured, immediately alerted the police and minutes later a team of cops initiated a probe after lodging a complaint. “The spot where the incident happened had no CCTV cameras; there was no way we could track or trace the suspects. We knew we had to depend entirely on human sources,” explained Sub-Inspector Sharad Nanekar from the Trombay police station, who is also the investigating officer in the case.

Culprits tend to escape via trains after committing housebreaking

In one of the first steps, Nanekar deployed officers at the nearby railway station as usually culprits tend to escape via trains after committing housebreaking. The cops had no strong lead and depended on the identification provided by the victims. “They gave us very rough yet prominent details like the colour of their t-shirts and what was printed on them. They also described their heights and skin tones, which we used to enquire about them in the area,” said Nanekar.

The place – where the incident took place – is located near the Vashi Market where vegetable and fruit vendors work till midnight, said the police. “One of the workers told us that two men were seen running at around 1.30am and we began the search operation based on the input,” the cop added.

Accused confessed to his crime

Five cops started scanning the Maharashtra Nagar neighbourhood from Mahatma Phule area to railway tracks. It was at 5.45am that one of the accused was spotted and he tried to run after seeing the police. “We successfully chased him and found stolen items in his possession. We took him to the police station where he confessed to his crime and also revealed details of the second accused,” said Nanekar. Both the men were remanded to judicial custody on Monday.

In the areas where there are no CCTV cameras, technical investigation barely plays a part in finding criminals. In 80% such cases, it's human sources and physical legwork that help in finding the suspects, he concluded.