7 held for robbing Rs 75 lakh cash from forex trader staff

According to police, on August 28 night, two employees — Pratik Bhojane and Ganesh Talwatkar — of a Malad-based forex exchange, were transporting Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh kept in two diffrent bags to their employer Bhavik Patel’s house on Marve Road, Malad (West), in an autorickshaw.

“When the two reached Patel’s building with the bags, three men arrived there on a two-wheeler. Two of them got down and one of them took out a knife and threatened to kill Bhojane. The other robber punched Talwatkar. Later, they snatched the two bags and fled on the motorcycle,” said a police officer.

Bhojane immediately called up his employer and informed him about the incident. Partner in the forex exchange firm, Dhaval Panchal (36), then approached Malad police and filed a complaint.

Deputy commissioner of police, zone-11, Ajay Bansal, formed multiple police teams to look for the accused.

Senior inspector Ravindra Adane and inspector Rajendra Panhale supervised the teams that worked on leads obtained through technical investigation and recently arrested seven accused from Lonavla, Pune, Nashik, Raigad, Jalna and Mumbai.

The arrested accused have been identified as Abhay Gaikwad, 26, his brother Krunal Gaikwad, 24, Naresh Rathod, 38, Chhagan Gaikwad, 32, Dinesh Indre, 30, Vinod Achalkhamb, 28 and Pratik Bhojane, 26.

According to police, Pratik Bhojane “was the one who had given tip- off to the police regarding how his employer’s firm transports cash on daily basis”.

Police seized Rs 15 lakh cash of the robbed money and also seized two bikes and a weapon used for the crime, an officer said on Monday.