Gang that robbed people by offering spa services busted

A gang of seven people in Mumbai has been arrested for robbing individuals at gunpoint. The gang would lure victims to a lodge under the pretense of "premium" services and then rob them. The police have identified the accused and are investigating further.

Mumbai: Seven persons of a gang were arrested on Saturday for allegedly robbing several people at gunpoint in Santacruz East. The men would call the clients of a shutdown spa, ask them to visit a lodge for “premium” services, lock them in and rob them, police officials said.

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The accused have been identified as Nilesh Saroj, 24, Vishal Singh, 20, Aditya Saroj, 19, Suresh Saroj, 21, Kuldeep Singh, 28, Suresh Vishwakarma, 46 and Saponkumar Seet, 38.

The police received a complaint about the operations of the gang on Friday morning wherein a person was robbed of ₹95,000.

“Nilesh used to work in a spa that was shut down a couple of years ago. After that, he went back to his native village in Uttar Pradesh, where he met the three younger men who were seeking a job in Mumbai. He came back earlier this year and spoke to his friend Kuldeep for a job,” said an officer from the Vakola police station.

Failing to get a job, the two men hatched the plan of using the client database from the spa that Nilesh had with him, the officer said, adding, “The two took the help of Suresh and Saponkumar who worked at the lodge where the crime took place. Being staffers of the lodge, their role was to ensure that no one, including the owner, got wind of the operations. Kuldeep and Nilesh, meanwhile, booked a room in the lodge to make things easier.”

After they succeeded in the first operation, they called the three younger men from Nilesh’s village to help them with it, the officer said. “They have been using a room in the lodge to call the former clients at the defunct spa to rob them. Once the clients agreed and came to the room, Nilesh, Kuldeep and the other three men would shut the door behind them, put a gun to the client’s head and told them to leave the place after leaving all their money behind,” said the officer.

The officer added that when the clients didn’t have substantial amounts of money on them, the gang would ask them to make online transfers to their accounts before releasing them.

While only one complaint has been received by the police, they say there are at least five more victims who were robbed. In all, they have collected ₹4 lakh from them, say the police.

The accused have been booked under sections 397 (robbery or dacoity with the intention to cause grievous hurt), 395 (dacoity) and 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous injury) of the Indian Penal Code and the relevant sections of the Indian Arms Act.