Mumbai: A history sheeter, who was arrested by the Tilak Nagar Police for robbery on Tuesday, confessed that the motive of his robbery was to simply make easy and instant cash. The accused, Asif Rehman Khan (41) has over 25 cases against him.
The history sheeter was held by police after getting the information about chain snathcing on Sunday when a 40-year-old woman named Surekha Bardade approached the police regarding a chain-snatching incident.
As per Bardade’s statement to the police, she was on her way to a temple when a man, wearing a helmet, came on a bike from behind and snatched away two of her gold necklaces, worth Rs 1.42 lakh, and fled away from the scene.
After Bardade lodged a complaint, the police began an investigation. "We first started to identify the accused by scanning the available closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the victim’s building premises and the adjoining roads."
"Since the accused wore a helmet, it was difficult to identify his facial features. The only thing that could be marked was his nose and body structure," said a police officer at Tilak Nagar police station who was part of the investigating team.
Based on the accused’s nose and facial features, police began looking out through confidential informants. "We got a tip-off from an informant and, based on that, we started searching. The suspect we were led to match with our accused, whose details were acquired and we started tracking his movements," said the officer.
The cops were following their suspected man throughout Mumbai, then in the Navi Mumbai area, and finally to Thane. However, later they traced him to the Malwani Malad area, from where Khan was finally arrested.
It was known that Khan had over 25 cases against him in several police stations in Mumbai, including Sion, Andheri, and Matunga areas for robbery, chain-snatching, rash driving, etc. During the investigation, Khan confessed his motive behind all these robberies.
"It’s like earning regular income for him in an easy way," explained the officer.
After arresting Khan, the police confiscated stolen gold ornaments from him and handed them over to the victim.
A case of robbery under section 392 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against Khan. The court on Wednesday remanded him to judicial custody.
