BMC contract sweepers arrested for robbery

Three men,including two BMC contract sweepers,were arrested on Sunday morning by Kandivali police for allegedly robbing a rickshaw driver. According to the police,the trio was arrested while trying to flee after they had threatened a rickshaw driver with razors and robbed him. The accused had earlier robbed another rickshaw driver in the Borivali area the previous night,police said.

Senior Police Inspector Suryakant Ghatge of the Kandivali police station,said,“The men,identified as Sanjay Chavan,Shamji Rathod and Vijay Solanki,had spent Saturday night drinking at a bar in Kandivali after which they hired a rickshaw to Borivali. However,when the rickshaw reached Borivali,the trio allegedly took out straight razors and threatened the driver and robbed him of Rs 500.”

After robbing the rickshaw driver,the accused took another rickshaw and came back to Kandivali around 6 am on Monday and used the same trick to rob the auto driver. “The driver saw some policemen patrolling the area and informed them about the robbery immediately. The officials chased the men and managed to nab them. On questioning them,we learnt that Rathod and Solanki work as contract sweepers for BMC,whereas Chavan has a few assault and robbery cases against him at Samta Nagar police station,” said Ghatge.

The trio has been remanded to police custody till November 18. “We want to conduct enquiries to check if the trio has committed similar offences in the past,” said Ghatge.