People spitting out pan masala or gutkha, is a common sight on the roads of Mira-Bhayandar.
However, this dirty act recently cost a 37-year-old man his gold ornaments worth Rs. 84,000 as members of the notorious “bol-bachhan” (glib-talkers) gangs modify themselves to devise novel ideas and different ways to dupe gullible people.
After the routine modus-operandi used to relieve gold ornaments of senior citizens-especially women with threats of a killer roaming free in the area, the fraudsters are now posing as the henchmen of local goons to target paan (betel-leaf) chewing people in the twin-city.
In his statement to the police, the complainant who lives in Nallasopara and works with a private finance company in Borivali said that he was on his way to the Mira Road railway station when he was accosted by two men near Shanti Shopping Center. They claimed that he had invited the ire of their master by soiling his sister’s clothes with pan stains and he should apologize to escape his wrath.
Despite being reluctant, he was escorted to a building in the nearby Geeta Nagar area in an auto-rickshaw. The duo convinced the complainant, to remove the gold chains and ring he was wearing. The complainant complied and the encounter ended with him being cheated of the jewellery as the duo had disappeared from the scene one after the other.
Based on the complaint, a case under section 420 of the IPC has been registered against the unidentified duo. An investigating team from the Naya Nagar police station is into the process of procuring footage captured by CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity of the crime scene and possible getaway routes used by the culprits.
