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Panaji, Nov 2 (IANS) In a major breakthrough, Goa’s Porvorim police have successfully solved a highway robbery case with the arrest of a notorious criminal from Pune. Officials gave this information on Sunday.
The arrest is an important step in the investigation of a daring robbery where suspects impersonating police officers looted cash worth Rs 8,00,000 from a vehicle on the highway last month.
According to Porvorim police station police inspector Rahul Parab, the incident took place on October 12, when a group of unidentified people, posing as police officers, stopped a vehicle and looted Rs 8 lakh in cash from its occupants. After the robbery, the police formed several teams to identify and trace the criminals.
Teams were rushed to Pune, Kalyan and Mumbai for investigation, where they carried out a series of coordinated raids. During one such operation, officials seized a scooter used by the accused from Ambivali, Thane and brought it to Goa for further investigation.
To trace the suspects, the Porvorim police team conducted a massive surveillance operation by camping for several days in the notorious Irani Basti areas of Pune and Ambivali in Thane. Despite the accused having fled their area before the raid, investigators continued to closely monitor their movements.
With the assistance of the Pune Crime Branch, the police finally caught one of the main accused, Mukhtar Syed Irani, 34, resident of Loni Kalbhor, Pune, on October 31.
He was later brought to Goa and produced before the court, which remanded him to four days of police custody for further questioning.
Police revealed that Mukhtar Irani is a habitual criminal, previously involved in 18 criminal cases ranging from theft to highway robbery in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Efforts are on to arrest the remaining suspects and recover the stolen amount.
The operation was conducted under the supervision of SP North Rahul Gupta and SDPO Vishwesh Karpe, with the investigation team comprising PI Rahul Parab, PSI Sitaram Malik, PSI Mandar Parab, PSI Arun Shirodkar and constables Mahadev Naik, Nitesh Gaude, Akash Navelkar, Amit Narvekar, Hemant Gaonkar, Bhikaji Parab, Devidas Malakar and others.
Police officials said the arrest underlines the department’s commitment to crack down on organized crime networks operating across the state’s borders.
Investigation is ongoing to trace other gang members and recover the remaining looted amount.
–IANS
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