Mumbai: Two members of interstate highway robbery gang arrested

DCP Datta Nalawade said that based on the information of senior inspector Manish Sridhankar, a team led by inspector Sridhar Jadhav intercepted the accused at Garodia Nagar in Ghatkopar.

The police found 25 boxes of several models of MI phones worth over Rs 69 lakhs inside the tempo. The duo told the police that the phones had been procured from Karnataka’s Kolar district.

The police then contacted the local police in Kolar and were informed about the robbery of mobile phones from Mulbagal – Kolar highway on August 5.

After confirming that the mobile phones in the tempo were those that had been looted in Karnataka, the police arrested the duo. An officer said that a team from Karnataka police would be coming to the city to take custody of the accused persons. An officer said that the role of the two arrested accused was to dispose of stolen property.

Sridhankar said that the gang has been involved in many highway robberies over the past few years. They generally get a tip-off from the company when a consignment of goods leaves a location. Accordingly, the gang members would at a forested stretch along the route and stop the vehicles. They would overpower the driver and helpers to loot phones and other goods.

Sridhankar said that the role of the gang has also come to the fore in at least three cases of similar nature, in which consignments of goods like cigarettes and mobile phones worth crores have been stolen.