Duo held, three minors detained for robbery, assault

PUNE: Two persons were arrested and their three minor accomplices were detained on Monday for assaulting and robbing seven Metro workers in Kothrud in the early hours of September 22.
The arrested duo — Hrishikesh Kamte (28) and Saurabhkumar Lohiya (20) — are residents of Kothrud. Kamte is a criminal on record with the Kothrud police with theft and robbery cases registered against him.
The Kothrud police also arrested the person who purchased the robbed valuables and recovered five robbed cellphones from him.A team of the Kothurd police led by inspector Shankar Khatke made the arrests.
The labourers hired by a private company for soil testing work for the Metro project on Paud Road were sleeping under a concrete structure on the garbage depot’s premises ithe early hours of September 22. Three of the five suspects reached the spot and suddenly attacked the labourers with iron rods. They snatched five cellphones and Rs6,650 from them. They even checked the labourers’ luggage and fled with their clothes.
Two labourers suffered severe head injuries. A case under Section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the suspects.
While probing the case, constable Pritam Nikalaje received a tip-off about the involvement of a person from Kothrud. “We took him into custody and during questioning he revealed the names of the other four,” sub-inspector Ratnadip Gaikwad of the Kothrud police said.
The arrested duo also revealed the name of the person who purchased the robbed cellphones. “We have arrested him and recovered the cellphones,” Gaikwad said.
Kamte’s modus operandi
An officer of the Kothrud police told TOI, “Kamte always uses minors to commit offences. In the recent robbery, the three robbers were minors. They worked on Kamte’s direction, while Kamte and Lohiya were near the spot.”
Before robbing the labourers, Kamte conducted a recce of the area.