Thane: 5 armed men arrested in connection with dacoity attempt

Thane, Jan 21 (PTI) Police have foiled a dacoity attempt at a village in Thane district of Maharashtra and arrested five armed men in this connection, an official said on Friday.

The property cell of Thane police's crime branch took the action on Thursday morning, he said.

"Acting on a tip-off that some persons were planning to carry out an armed dacoity at Khardi village on Diva-Shil Road, the police laid a trap around 6 am on Thursday. Soon afterwards, they spotted around eight persons moving there in a suspicious manner," senior inspect Ashok Honrao of the property cell said.

The police team pounced on them and pinned them down. However, three of them escaped from the spot, he said.

"After nabbing the five accused, the police recovered from them a 'katta' (country-made gun), two bullets, a nylon rope, chili powder, chopper and other material," he said, adding that they were identified as Sanjeev Bhaita (32), Harum Mahato (25), Shekar Kasbe (29), Ajmal Khan (18) and Arshad Aslam Shaikh (40).

During their interrogation, the accused revealed that they had stolen diesel from some trucks and containers that were parked on a road between Dombivli and Manpada in the district. After that, the police recovered the stolen diesel and two vehicles used in carrying it, collectively worth Rs 6,53,550, Honrao said.

An offence under sections 399 (making preparation to commit dacoity), 402 (assembling for purpose of committing dacoity) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC was registered against the accused at Shil-Daighar police station. They were also booked under the Arms Act and the Bombay Police Act, the official said.