Pune: A 41-year-old journalist working with a Marathi news channel was looted of cash and valuables after being threatened at gunpoint by four men, who gave him a lift from Swargate and promised to drop him in Mumbai.
The news anchor, Girish Nikam, a resident of Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, was robbed of his gold chain and Rs 41,000 cash, which the accused had withdrawn using his debit card by obtaining the PIN after threatening and assaulting him.
Nikam had lodged a complaint with Kalamboli police station on Wednesday, which was transferred to Swargate police station here on Thursday.
According to police, Nikam had come here to visit a doctor. Around 10 pm on Tuesday, he was waiting at Swargate bus stand for a bus to Navi Mumbai. A car with three passengers approached him and the driver told him that he was heading towards Mumbai and was short of just one passenger. Nikam decided to board the car.
“The car stopped for fuelling in Talegaon. However, one of the passengers threatened Nikam with a gun and demanded his valuables. They also thrashed him following which he handed over his gold chain worth Rs 20,000, mobile phone and wallet to them. After that, they blindfolded him and continued to drive. They forced him to reveal the debit card PIN and withdrew Rs 41,000. They released him at Kalamboli and handed over his phone and debit card. He tried to contact the police but the robbers had removed the SIM cards from the phone,” said Police Sub Inspector SJ Kadam, who is investigating the case.
Nikam somehow persuaded an autorickshaw driver to drop him at Kalamboli police station and lodged a complaint at 1 am.
