Two Held Within 8 Hours for Stealing ₹50 Lakh from Parked Car in Punawale
PCMC police recover entire cash amount; fake key allegedly used to unlock vehicle
Pimpri-Chinchwad : The Pimpri-Chinchwad police have arrested two men within eight hours of a theft in which ₹50 lakh in cash was stolen from a parked car in Punawale using a duplicate key. The police have recovered the entire stolen amount, officials said.
The operation was jointly conducted by Crime Branch Unit 2, the Anti-Property Crime Squad and Ravet police. According to the police, the theft took place between 10.50 pm on October 9 and 12.15 am on October 10. The car was parked on a cement service road in front of Sandeep Hotel in Punawale when an unidentified person allegedly unlocked it using a duplicate key and fled with a bag containing ₹50 lakh.
A case was subsequently registered at Ravet police station. Taking serious note of the incident, Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey directed the Crime Branch and Ravet police to trace the accused and recover the stolen cash. Separate teams were formed under the supervision of senior officers.
During the investigation, police examined CCTV footage from the area. The footage allegedly showed a person opening the car with a duplicate key and taking away the bag containing the cash.
Accomplice allegedly supplied duplicate key
During the investigation, police suspected Charudatta Shivaji Bendale (30), a resident of Nighoje, who had accompanied the complainant to Mumbai to collect money. He was detained for questioning.
According to investigators, Bendale allegedly revealed that he had handed over the duplicate key to his friend, Prasad Shivaji Bankar (29), a resident of Chimbali. The investigation also revealed that Bendale had allegedly informed Bankar about the ₹50 lakh kept inside the car and instructed him to steal it, police said.
Acting on this information, police detained Bankar from Chimbali. The entire stolen amount of ₹50 lakh was recovered from the two accused, who were subsequently arrested in connection with the case.
Joint operation by police teams
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey, Joint Commissioner of Police Dr. Shashikant Mahavarkar, Additional Commissioners of Police Sarang Awad and Basavaraj Teli, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohidas Pawar, Zone 2 DCP Pradeep Jadhav, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime 1) Sudarshan Rathod and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Wakad Division) Sunil Kunhade.
Senior police inspectors Sandeep Sawant of Crime Branch Unit 2, Sanjay Chavan of the Anti-Property Crime Squad and Rishikesh Ghadge of Ravet police station, along with police sub-inspectors Mayuresh Salunkhe and Rahul Khile, other police personnel and the technical analysis team, participated in the operation.
