Police launch manhunt for two men for robbing elderly rickshaw drivers
Police launch manhunt for two men in their early twenties suspected of robbing elderly rickshaw drivers at night by pretending to need to go to the hospital.
MUMBAI: The police have launched a manhunt for two men in their early twenties suspected of robbing elderly rickshaw drivers at night. Their modus operandi is to hire a rickshaw late in the night by pretending to get their ailing mother or a family member to the hospital and then threaten them at knifepoint.
According to the Borivali police, the duo is wanted for several such robberies in the northern suburbs as well as in the Mira-Bhayandar areas. “We are aware of at least 20 such robberies which the duo is suspected to have committed over the past month,” said a police officer.
The latest case against the unknown duo is registered based on a complaint lodged by Rameshram Gupta (58). The police said that in the wee hours of Wednesday, Gupta was waiting for a passenger at SV Road in Borivali when two men approached him. “The men seemed distressed and looking for an auto,” said Gupta, a resident of Nalasopara who generally drives his auto at night to avoid traffic congestion during the day.
Gupta told police that he usually parked his auto near the Dahisar subway before going home each day. “On Wednesday when I was about to park the auto, the men approached and told me that their mother was sick and wanted to take her to the hospital. They told me to drive to the new MHB Colony,” said Gupta.
At 3.45am, when they reached the VK Menon School, one of the robbers removed a knife and threatened Gupta to give them his phone, wallet and cash in his pocket. “The men then slapped me twice after getting off the auto and told me to run away,” said Gupta.
After the incident, Gupta approached the police and based on his complaint an offence was registered against the two unidentified men.
“A few days earlier, a similar incident took place at Naya Nagar, Bhayandar where a 57-year-old auto driver was robbed and injured by the men. We are trying to get recordings of the CCTV cameras covering the incidents to identify the robbers,” said a police officer from Borivali police station.