Two elderly women robbed at knife point in new Katraj tunnel; 3 arrested

The Pimpri Chinchwad police have arrested three men for allegedly robbing a 76-year-old woman and her 72-year-old sister at knife point, in a private car, in the new Katraj tunnel. Police have identified the accused persons as Abasaheb Ankush Madane (35) of Dehu road, Kailas Pandurang Tonpe (32) of Dighi and Vaibhav Janardan Suryatal (30) of Ravet. The victim, a resident of Andheri in Mumbai, had lodged the first information report (FIR) in this case at the Hinjewadi police station in Pimpri-Chinchwad on September 11. As stated in the FIR, the complainant and her sister from Bengaluru had gone to meet their family member at Tembhurni on September 3. Then, on September 7, they reached Swargate in Pune city by a state transport bus. They were planning to meet their brother residing in Khopoli. They took a bus going to Mumbai, but then got to know that it was not going to their destination. So they left the bus at Wakade bridge and started looking for another vehicle going to Khopoli. A car approached them around 3 pm. The driver asked the women where they wanted to go. As the women said Khopoli, the driver replied he too was going to the same place. So the women boarded the car. Along with the driver, there were two more persons in the car. They took the women to the new Katraj tunnel instead of Khopoli. Here, one of the men inside the car pointed a knife at the women and robbed their gold ornaments worth Rs 8.47 lakh. The robbers pushed the women out of their car and escaped from the spot. The two women came out of the tunnel. They reached Nawale bridge with the help of a citizen. From here, they went to Khopoli by another vehicle. Then, on September 10, they came back to Pune with their nephew and lodged a complaint at the Ambegaon police station in Pune city. The next day, the case was transferred to Hinjewadi police station. Following a technical analysis of multiple CCTV footages, a crime branch team led by ACP Vishal Hire, police inspector Arvind Pawar, sub inspector Bharat Gosavi and Mayuresh Solanki, received clues about the car used by the robbers in this case. Police then identified the robbers and nabbed them from Walhekarwadi in Chinchwad area on Thursday. Accused Madane was earlier booked in a cheating case lodged at the Baramati Taluka police station, police said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Shivaji Pawar said that 127 grams of gold ornaments worth Rs 5.7 lakh and a car have been seized from the accused during investigation.