Two robberies at gunpoint, same gang suspected

PUNE: There seems to be in let-up in robbery cases in the city, despite the police bandobast in view of elections. Two more cases of robberies at gunpoint were reported from Bhosari and Alandi road areas on Tuesday — the day when a Latur couple was robbed in a similar fashion early in the morning.
Four men travelling in a car robbed a 30-year-old employee of a private firm, Raj Bansode, of his car, laptop and mobile phone totally valued at Rs 2.52 lakh at gunpoint on the Pune-Alandi road between 2.15 pm and 4.30 pm on Tuesday.
The robbers also forced Bansode, a resident of Dighi, to withdraw cash from at least four ATM centres on the Pune-Alandi road, but could not failed to withdraw cash from any of them.
Later in the day, a shop owner was robbed at gunpoint by four men at Bhosari. The suspects made away with Rs 12,000 from the counter of the shop, said Rajaram Choudhary (26) in his complaint. Sub-inspector T K Hargude of the Bhosari police station said the miscreants were travelling in the car they had snatched from Bansode. “The number of the car given to us by Choudhary matches Bansode’s car,” he said, adding that the same men should be behind the crime.
The Latur couple was robbed by four men at gunpoint of their car, cash and gold ornaments totally worth Rs 4.95 lakh in Warje around 3.30 am on Tuesday. The couple had borrowed the car from a friend.
Assistant inspector S R Kate of the Vishrantwadi police told TOI on Wednesday that Bansode was travelling in his car when the robbers tried to hit him just ahead of Magazine chowk on the Pune-Alandi road. “The robbers soon intercepted Bansode’s vehicle. One of the robbers threatened Bansode with a firearm and asked him to get down from his car. He then forced Bansode to sit in another car and took control of Bansode’s vehicle. There were three more men in the car. They threatened the complainant and stopped near the ATM centres and asked Bansode to withdraw cash, but there was insufficient funds,” he said.
Kate said that the robbers then drove to Charholi phata, where they dumped Bansode and fled with his car. “Bansode should have raised an alarm at an ATM centre where he had got down from the car alone. This could have helped in nabbing the suspects,” he said.
However, Kate said the police have started drawing sketches of the suspects based on the description provided by Bansode and that the criminals would be arrested soon.