Bhayandar: With the arrest of four key members, sleuths of the Thane (rural) police claim to have put brakes on a canny robbers gang who broke into a number of electronic and mobile shops in Thane and Palghar district, by creating holes on the shutter with the help of gas cutting tools. Acting on a specific tip-off about their presence in the region, a police team from the Navghar police station led by ASP Atul Kulkarni and Senior Police Inspector Ram Bhalsingh under the guidance of SP Dr. Shivaji Rathod and Addl. SP Sanjay Patil apprehended four bike-borne members of the gang after a hot chase in the Indralok area of Bhayandar (east) on Friday night.
The arrested accused who were apparently preparing to commit a dacoity at a gold ornament showroom in the Indralok area, have been identified as Mohammed Yusuf Yakib Shaikh (32), Rajkumar Gupta alias Rajan (18), Mukhtar Zamir Ahmed Qureshi (29) and Tipu Noormohammed Shaikh (27) while their fifth accomplice managed to escape. The accused were equipped with a desi katta (country made gun), knife, screw drivers, pliers, nylon rope and packets of red chilli powder. This apart from portable gas cutters, cylinders and stolen booty worth more than Rs 6.39 lakh including 54 mobile phones and six laptops which were found to be in their possession.
A spate of brazen robberies in recent times had sparked panic amongst local traders who had threatened to launch an agitation against the alleged inaction of the local police. A case under sections 399, 402 of the IPC and under sections 3, 5, 7 and 25 of Arms Act has been registered against the quartet who have been remanded to custody by the district sessions court, Thane.
