PUNE: After a three-hour chase, officials of Talegaon Dabhade police nabbed a seven-member gang involved in robbing people on the Expressway. The gang struck for the second time on the Expressway on Thursday and with immediate planning, Talegaon police were successful in nabbing the seven accused.
As per Senior Police Inspector Mugutrao Patil of Talegaon Dabhade police station, at around 2 am, a couple had taken a halt near Ozarde bridge on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The gang members, who were armed with sickles, attacked the couple. The members robbed the couple of ornaments, cash and a watch, all worth Rs 50,000.
“The victims then alerted our policemen present at the toll plaza. A police team was formed and sent to look for the accused involved in the incident. Initially, we did not find anyone so we pretended to abort the search plan. Our police team then found one suspect and nabbed him in the hills. After taking him into custody, he got calls from the other accused. We then took the details and nabbed two more persons, who were in a car. We took details of four other accused persons and nabbed them too,” added Patil.
Police said that gang leader Pradip Mandalik (22) tried to escape and jumped from a hill, fracturing both his legs. Mandalik was then chased and arrested.
The other six accused have been identified as Avinash Khandagale (22), Kailash Chandane (23), Santosh Ghune (23), Sandip Bhalerao (27), Sachin Kamble (20) and Balkrishna Mandalik (25). Police said that some of the accused are history sheeters. The accused hail from Ahmednagar district. Police officials said that they are in the process of confirming the identity of the accused with the two victims who were robbed on the Expressway.
The police team included Police Sub-inspector Dnyaneshwar Bajgire and policemen Prakash Waghmare, Nitin Salunkhe, Deepak Kate, Ajay Kale, Jayraj Patankar, Santosh Jagtap, Mahendra Ravte, Prashant Bunge, Swapnil Garud, Vishal Shinde and Ganesh Davkhar.
