| 2010-05-29 | Gang of five held, valuables worth over Rs 9 lakh
The police solved a dacoity case with the arrest of five people and recovered valuables worth over Rs 9.64 lakh including an Indigo, one revolver, one pistol and three choppers.
“Ulhasnagar resident Raju Awhad (29), who was arrested on May 25, is the mastermind. He along with his accomplices had robbed a Bhiwandi businessman, his brother and their regular client at gunpoint. They took around Rs 15 lakh and other valuables,” said additional commissioner of police (crime) Prashant Burde at a press conference on Friday.
“They also robbed a driver near Ranjnoli naka on the Mumbai-Agra highway.”
While two of the accused — Badlapur resident Mahesh Sathre (30) and Ulhasnagar resident Naresh Chabria (29) — were arrested in March, Awhad, Ulhasnagar resident Prakash Gangurde (34) and Bhiwandi resident Rohidas Shelar (34) were arrested recently based on the information provided by Sathre and Chabria.
While Awhad has 11 cases of dacoity, robbery against him, Shelar has four such cases against him. Prakash has one case each of murder and dacoity whereas Chabria was convicted in a dacoity case and had spent seven years in jail. The gang was formed while the accused were serving their respective jail terms. One more person is yet to be arrested.
They have been remanded in police custody till June 5.
In another case, the anti-extortion cell nabbed three criminals — Diva resident Jitendra Maurya (23), Ahmednagar resident Gilbert alias John Ohol (30) and Diva resident Raju Mahathe (24) — from a Mumbra petrol pump on Wednesday.
“Two pistols, four live rounds and a knife were recovered from them. The gang has been involved in murder, dacoity, house break-ins and other crimes in Mumbai, Raigad, Pune,” said Burde. | | 2010-05-27 | Blind man calls train thieves' bluff in Mumbai
Mumbai: Kalyan railway police have arrested two persons from Ambarnath for robbing a visually-challenged commuter of a mobile phone and Rs1,000 in a CST-bound local train between Ambarnath and Ulhasnagar stations.
The police arrested the duo after the victim recognised their voices when they were produced before him.
According to police, the victim, identified as Dinesh Suryawanshi, 29, was travelling in the compartment reserved for the differently-abled persons.
“Anil Kukreja, 35 and Raja Subramaniam, 36, were arrested on May 22. The mobile phone belonging to Suryawanshi was recovered from Jyoti, wife of Kukreja,” said senior police inspector Ashok Jadhav of Kalyan railway police station. He added that the duo was remanded in police custody till May 27 by the Kalyan railway court.
A manhunt has been launched to nab their accomplice in the crime, Imran Chand, 22, who is still at large.
The incident took place on May 15 around 9.15pm. Suryawanshi, a resident of Ulhasnagar, planned to meet his friend Ramesh Musale, 36, a physically-challenged person, at Ambarnath station. Musale boarded the train at Vangani station and Suryawanshi joined him at Ambarnath. When the train started, three other commuters jumped into the coach.
According to sub-inspector SN Pednekar of Kalyan railway police, while Kukreja kept a watch on the movement of policemen and commuters,Subramaniam and Imran threatened and robbed Suryawanshi and Musale..
They banged Suryawanshi’s head against the wall and robbed him. Musale too was beaten up when he tried to help his friend. When they screamed for help, the trio jumped off the train when it slowed down at Ulhasnagar station and escaped.
Following a complaint of robbery, Kalyan railway police kept tracking the mobile phone of the victim. It was later tracked to Jyoti. She told the police that her husband Anil had given her the cellphone.
Subramaniam, a history sheeter, was arrested by the Colaba police in a murder case 15 years ago. He was sentenced to 14 years rigorous imprisonment by the sessions court and released from Yerawada prison in Pune eight months ago. | | 2010-05-21 | Cessna crash cut short Ulhasnagar boy’s dream
Ulhasnagar lad Hitesh Karia”s childhood dream of becoming a commercial pilot was cut short on Wednesday, when the Cessna plane he was flying in, crashed into a dry river bed, killing him.
Karia’s colleague and flight instructor, Girish Koparkar, too died in the tragic crash at Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.
Koparkar was from Marol. Both were associated with Yash Air, flying school at Ujjain. Hitesh, 20, had flown 197 hours as a student pilot and another three hours would have got him a commercial pilot’s licence.
Hitesh Karia (l) with instructor Girish Koparkar who also died
According to aviation sources, the plane took off, turned right and climbed to 600-700 feet. “It crashed into a dry river bed after hitting two high tension wires,” a source said.
It broke upon on impact and caught fire. Both bodies were charred. Directorate General of Civil Aviation is inquiring into the incident.
Late on Wednesday, Hitesh’s family received a call from his friend in Ujjain, telling them about the crash. On hearing about it his mother, Radha fainted. Until Thursday evening after his last rites were performed, she was still unconscious. His father Murli is a businessman.
“Hitesh wanted to be a pilot since childhood. His entire family was against him taking up the aviation course as it is a very risky profession.
His only support was his mother, who stood by him after he enrolled for the course,” said Jyoti Kalani, former mayor of Ulhasnagar, who is related to the Karias. Hitesh was to return home next week.
“In our community not many youngsters pursue further studies as most of them end up handling the family business. But Hitesh was different and very ambitious,” said Kalani. |  | | 2010-05-16 | Fake cops rob couples of valuables
The Thane police arrested two Ulhasnagar residents for posing as cops and looting valuables from unsuspecting couples outside hotels in Mumbai and neighbouring towns.
The accused Satish Balpuri, 40, and Shankar Variani, 40, confessed that they have committed nearly 10 offences in Thane and neighbouring towns, besides half a dozen in south Mumbai and some in Pune.
The police have also requested people who have been cheated by the two to lodge a complaint as many have not done so.
“One of the two would stop the couples outside the hotel pretending to be a cop. He would then tell them that his senior would like to meet them.
Accused Satish Balpuri and Shankar Variani
On the way, he would ask the couple to remove their gold ornaments or else they would be confiscated by his senior,” Additional Commissioner, Thane, Prashant Burde told Mumbai Mirror.
The accused would then somehow take possession of the ornaments and ask the couple to leave. On most occasions, the couples would not approach police for fear of further embarrassment.
However, a few of them did lodge a complaint, informing the Thane police about Balpuri and Variani’s modus operandi.
“Balpuri is serving externment for past crimes, while Variani has also been externed twice. When we learnt of their involvement in these cases, we kept a watch and caught them in Ulhasnagar,” Inspector Shivajirao Deshmukh, in-charge of Ulhasnagar’s Thane Crime Branch unit, said. Police have recovered gold ornaments worth Rs 51,000 from the duo.
Balpuri and Variani are school dropouts, Deshmukh said. During interrogation, the duo confessed that they were arrested for similar offences on five occasions by the D B Marg police in south Mumbai and the Budhwarpeth police in Pune.
Deshmukh added that Balpuri and Variani indulged in gambling and would spend the entire booty on playing cards. |  | | 2010-05-11 | Man with date-rape drug held at Mumbai airport
Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Customs on Sunday arrested an Ulhasnagar-based businessman for allegedly attempting to smuggle ketamine hydrochloride, also known as date-rape drug, valued at Rs18.5 lakh to Singapore.
“The accused, Giresh Motwani, and was remanded in judicial custody till May 12 by a holiday court on Sunday,” a Customs officer said, adding that he was just a carrier and he was promised Rs5,000 for doing the job.
The drug was given to him by two persons, Harish and Raju. Motwani was supposed to leave by Singapore Airlines on April 21 and deliver it to someone in Singapore.
When the AIU intercepted him and checked his baggage, they found a water heater wrapped in cellophane toil. They cut the water heater and found a black plastic bag containing the drug.
Motwani, a resident of Ulhasnagar, admitted that he was attempting to smuggle out the drug, for which he was promised Rs5,000.
Ketamine hydrochloride is a non-barbiturate, rapid acting disassociate anaesthetic used on both animals and humans. It is abused by a number of people as a date-rape drug. Ketamine creates numbness, loss of coordination, sense of invulnerability, muscle, rigidity, aggressive behaviour etc. The use of ketamine is only for medical use and is marketed to veterinarians and medical personnel.
It is considered a controlled substance in various countries. |
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