Mira Bhayandar: Less than 36 hours after they robbed the owner of a courier agency at gunpoint in Vasai, five members of an interstate robbers gang landed into the custody of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police.
Notably, the crime detection unit attached to the Manekpur police station tracked down the robbers in Nallasopara after scrutinising footage captured by more than 100 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the vicinity of the crime scene and possible getaway routes.
According to the police, the gang had barged into the office located in Dewan Tower, Vasai at around 2:30 pm on Monday. The robbers whipped out a revolver and chopper to threaten the owner. They tied and gagged the owner and decamped with a booty of more than Rs. 73,000 including cash and mobile phones. The men in an attempt to conceal their identities even stole the digital video recorder (DVR) attached to the CCTV camera network in the store.
Following a complaint registered by the owner-Siddhraj Rajput, personnel from the crime detection unit visited the crime spot and started investigating the case. The unit under the guidance of senior police inspector-Raju Mane scanned footage captured by more than 100 CCTV cameras and learnt about their presence in Nallasopara.
On the virtue of electronic surveillance, the police tracked all the accused from the Santosh Bhuvan area within 36 hours. The accused identified as- Ajay Mandal, Shankar Gouda, Vijay Singh, Mohammed Jubeir Shaikh and Lalmani Yadav turned out to be members of an interstate gang who were involved in more than two dozen offences including theft and armed robberies in Karnataka, Thane, Mumbai, Kalyan and Gujarat.
Apart from tools like- cutter machine, spanners, screwdrivers, plier and hammer which are used to commit break-ins, the police team also recovered an automatic pistol, 8 live cartridges, mobile phones and an Eeco van from their possession.
An offence under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and Arms Act has been registered against the accused who have been remanded to custody. Further investigations were underway.
