Driver who fled with employer’s cash worth ₹25L arrested

During the investigation, it was found that the accused had previous cases of theft registered against him in Dharavi

MUMBAI: The Kherwadi police have arrested the driver of a Bandra-based developer who allegedly fled with his employer’s bag containing ₹25 lakh in cash.

Driver who fled with employer’s cash worth ₹25L arrested

The arrested accused was identified as Gurudev Subhash Patil, 42, a resident of Dharavi. He was hired 10 months ago by N Siddique, a developer who lives in Bandra (West). During the investigation, it was found that the accused had previous cases of theft registered against him in Dharavi.

Siddique told the police that the alleged theft occurred on February 21, when he and his friend had gone to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) office in Bandra for some work. Siddique said he left a red bag containing cash worth ₹25 lakh in the back seat of his car and asked his driver, Patil, to keep a watch on it.

After finishing his work, when Siddique returned to the location where his car had been parked, he found that it wasn’t there, and Patil allegedly did not answer his calls. Siddique then received a call from one of his employees, who told him that Patil had met him near the Kherwadi police station, where he had parked the car, and gave him the keys, saying he had to leave for some urgent work. Siddique’s employee also told him that Patil had a red bag with him.

Siddique then approached the Kherwadi police station, where a case was registered against Patil under Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita sections related to criminal breach of trust.

“Patil was repeatedly switching off his phone and changing his locations, said senior inspector Kavidas Jambhale of the Kherwadi police station. “He was roaming from Panvel to Talegaon and from Talegaon to Kalyan, and then went to Ambivali. His location was traced on the evening of February 26 while he was travelling by train towards Thane.”

A team from the Kherwadi police station then laid a trap for Patil at the Thane railway station and caught him with the help of the railway police. The accused was brought to the police station, where he allegedly confessed to the crime during interrogation. Cash worth ₹24 lakh was recovered from his house in Badlapur on February 27, said Jambhale.