In a shocking incident in Navi Mumbai, a 47-year-old jeweller from Bhandup and his associate were robbed of Rs 12 lakh in cash. The pair had been lured by two men who promised to sell gold biscuits at a reduced price. When they met near a restaurant in Airoli on Monday afternoon, three additional men arrived in a multi-utility vehicle (MUV). Posing as police officers, they claimed that the gold biscuits were smuggled and being sold illegally, leading to the robbery.
As per the complainant Patil, the six accused plotted a criminal conspiracy from June 28, when the two accused Kantilal Kothari and Kisan Kothari lured him and his friend Gopal Pawaskar by offering to sell gold biscuits at a discounted price of ₹12 lakh. Thereafter, on Sept 21, the duo of Kotharis called Patil and Pawaskar near Garam Masala hotel in sector 9, Airoli, for delivering the bullion around 1.30 pm. During the meeting, Kotharis took ₹12 lakh cash from Patil for counting, while an unidentified man who had brought the bullion was also present. The trio of fake cops attacked Patil and Pawaskar with wooden batons, threatened them with legal action and forcibly snatched the ₹12 lakh cash along with a blank cheque book of the jeweller’s wife in which some blank bearer cheques were signed, and the trio of fake cops sped away in the MUV.
The police have launched a manhunt for the six accused. Acting on a complaint by the jeweller identified as Dharmendra Patil, the Rabale police registered an FIR against the two men identified as Kantilal Kothari and Kisanlal Kothari, who had offered the bullion at a discounted price along with an unidentified man, who had brought the gold biscuits to the meeting spot in Airoli, and the three unidentified fake cops. The police have invoked BNS sections for robbery, cheating, personating a public servant, criminal conspiracy and joint criminal liability. As part of a pre-planned conspiracy, the three accomplices of Kotharis arrived in an MUV (Ertiga), posing as cops and claiming that the gold biscuit sale was being done illegally. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Mumbai | Silver Rate in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai | Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Petrol Price in Mumbai | Diesel Price in Mumbai | CNG Price in Mumbai | LPG Price in Mumbai