Five rob truck driver in Sion; 1 held

The accused, who has been arrested, has been identified as Rahul Mahadik. The other four accused have been identified as Vinayak Londhe, Vivek Londhe, Mayuresh Sadafule and Prateek Bhujbal. According to the police, two years ago, Sadafule was even externed due to his nuisance and crimes in the vicinity

Mumbai: One person from a five-member gang was arrested on Sunday after they allegedly assaulted a trailer driver and robbed valuables from him in Sion. The police have launched a manhunt for the other four persons.

HT Image

The accused, who has been arrested, has been identified as Rahul Mahadik. The other four accused have been identified as Vinayak Londhe, Vivek Londhe, Mayuresh Sadafule and Prateek Bhujbal. According to the police, two years ago, Sadafule was even externed due to his nuisance and crimes in the vicinity.

The driver, Shambahadur Jaiswal, a resident of Wadala, works in a transport firm which supplies iron rods and other materials required for the construction site of the Mumbai metro, an officer from Chunabhatti police station said, adding, “Jaiswal loaded iron rods from the company’s godown in Bandra-Kurla Complex at 2:30am on Saturday and when he reached near Priyadarshini circle in Sion, five people came in an auto rickshaw and intercepted the trailer.”

He added that the driver was heading towards the Postal colony in Chembur. “The accused were carrying choppers, iron rods and a knife. They made Jaiswal alight from the vehicle and threatened him. They even demanded money whenever he would go from that area,” the officer said.

One of the accused hit Jaiswal in the head with an iron rod and a stone due to which he started bleeding, senior inspector Anil Desai said. “They robbed his mobile phone and cash – totally worth ₹8,000 – and fled.”

“They target people at night for robbery and extortion by threatening them with choppers and knives. During the investigation, it was found that the accused had used a stolen auto rickshaw for the heist. Vinayak and Vivek have many cases registered in Chembur police station while many offences and robbery cases are registered against Mayuresh in Chunabhatti,” said API Patil.

The accused have been booked under section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 387 (putting a person in fear of death or of grievous hurt, in order to commit extortion), 395 (punishment for dacoity), 397 (robbery, or dacoity) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.