NAVI MUMBAI: A 32-year-old wholesale traderwas robbed of Rs 9 lakh cash within seconds in Panvel on Tuesday. The victim, Pankaj Karwa, had left the bag containing cash unattended on his bike’s carrier only for a few seconds to open his shop’s shutter.
On Tuesday morning, Karwa went to his shop, M/s Morarji Parshottam & Company, on MG Road near Old Panvel-Thane Road, on his bike with the bag containing money. Karwa had collected the money from retailers and was supposed to deposit it in his bank account later in the day.
On reaching the shop, he parked the bike and went to open the shop’s shutters, leaving the bag unattended on the vehicle’s carrier only for a couple of seconds. However, when the trader turned around after opening the shutter, he found the bag missing.
The footage of a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera installed at a jewellery store opposite the trader’s shop has captured a youth flicking the bag and walking away with it. The accused, most probably in the 20s, crossed the road where a biker had been waiting for him. He sat on the bike and the duo fled towards Tapal Naka. Karwa, a wholesale trader of foodgrains, owns another shop near Tapal Naka.
Senior inspector Datta Patil said, “The footage is not clear. It is difficult to identify the youths or read the bike’s registration number. We have collected grabs from CCTV cameras installed in other neighbouring shops as well. Technicians have been summoned to get clearer images. A theft case under sections 379 (punishment for theft) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the duo.”