Men follow trader for 282 km on bike, loot Rs 15 lakh; 4 arrested

One of the arrested men, Arshad Ansari, was the first one to learn from a source that Khan frequently transports a lot of cash to Mumbai. Ansari then went and passed on the information to his friend Amir Shah. Shah has a history in robbery and subsequently he roped in two more persons — Shahbaz Razak Pinjari (21) and Wasim Sajeed (23).

“They came to know that the father-son duo always travels by a particular bus service,” said an investigator.
On March 13, the complainant got into the bus at 10.45pm from Malegaon. Ansari paid Rs 500 and travelled inside the cabin of the same bus, while his three accomplices followed the bus on their bike. Once Khan got off at Shindewadi junction on the Eastern Express highway in Parel, the three bike-borne men — Shah, Pinjari and Sajeed — attacked him.

“The complainant was getting into a cab, when the two pillion riders threatened him with a knife and tried snatching his bag. As the complainant was not letting go, one of them stabbed his hand and escaped with the bag,” said an officer from Bhoiwada police station. The three then returned to Malegaon on their bike.

Khan reported the matter to police only on March 19. While scanning CCTV footage, the police could see the bike but its registration number was not clear. “However, further scrutiny revealed Ansari, who had also got off the bus at Parel along with Khan, accidentally sit on the bike while his accomplices were robbing Khan. Pinjari, who was the driver, asked Ansari to stay away to ensure that he did not get identified,” said an investigator.