Nagpur.
The city police are facing tough time with a sudden spurt in the intensity of fast paced crime. Post the Audi car chase incident that brought nightmare for the cops of three police stations, another broad day light robbery has baffled the cops yet again. In the latter incident daring robbers fled with cash Rs 5 lakh after threatening a man at gunpoint in broad daylight on the busy Wardha Road on Monday. City police suspect an insider’s involvement in the episode. Buddhadeep Patil, an employee of a private firm, was heading to his office on his scooterette after withdrawing cash from the bank when he was robbed by two bike-borne miscreants armed with a pistol.
Patil had gone to Bank of Maharashtra’s Deo Nagar branch as part of his job as computer operator and accountant in a construction firm owned by Rajendra Choudhury. The firm, located at Samarth Nagar, undertakes government assignments through tenders apart from private civil works. Patil had withdrawn Rs 6 lakh from his firm’s account, deposited around Rs 1 lakh into another account and stepped out with the rest of the cash.
He had started for his office after keeping the cash in the two-wheeler’s dickey. Patil was intercepted by two bike-borne robbers on a green two-wheeler near Hindustan Colony. The pillion rider stopped Patil by tugging the handle of his two-wheeler. While the driver kept their vehicle running, the pillion rider pulled out a pistol and held it to Patil’s head, before issuing grave threats and taking away the keys from his bike.
Threatening Patil to remain silent, the pillion rider opened the dickey with the key and took the cash out before speeding away. The miscreants also decamped with the key to Patil’s two-wheeler. Patil alerted his employer after the incident, who took him to Dhantoli police station, where an offence of armed robbery has been registered.
Cops feel the incident was orchestrated by an insider who tipped off the robbers about Patil’s movement with cash. Police have also not ruled not Patil’s involvement. Call details of various employees and people connected to Choudhary and Patil are now under the scanner at the cyber cell.
Apart from Dhantoli police, crime branch too has started probing the incident. Police have found striking similarities with some other incidents in the past. The gangs who target customers after leaving banks are also being scanned.
