Pune Rural Police have arrested three members of a gang who kidnapped a scrap dealer and robbed him at gunpoint after he refused to purchase a car without a number plate.
The accused, posing as police officers, threatened the dealer and stole his mobile phone and cash before demanding a large sum of money.
The arrested suspects have been identified as Santosh Laxman Bhandalkar (42), Suresh Ashok Rakhpasare (33), and Shekhar Subhash Shinde (32). The police have recovered a white Hyundai i20 car, two country-made pistols, and eight live cartridges from the accused.
Meanwhile, the police are still searching for two more suspects, Suraj Shankar Madne and Haribhau Baban Khude, who are believed to be involved in the crime.
The incident occurred on September 23, when Qutubuddin Subhedar Shah, a scrap dealer from Vanjarwadi, was approached by the suspects at his shop.
They offered to sell him a white Hyundai i20 but Shah declined the offer due to the absence of a number plate. Angered by the refusal, the suspects falsely claimed to be police officers and forcibly took Shah in their car.
They confiscated his phone and ₹8,000 in cash, accusing him of purchasing stolen goods, and demanded ₹15 lakh as a bribe.
When Shah tried to resist, the accused threatened him with a pistol and took him along the Daund-Nagar highway. They eventually dropped him near a petrol station in Chikhli village.
Following the report of the incident, the Pune police formed three special investigation teams. Using CCTV footage from the highway, the police tracked down the white i20 car used in the crime, leading to the arrest of Bhandalkar and his accomplices.
According to the police, the gang was also planning to rob a jeweler on the Sangola-Jat road when they were caught. During their interrogation, the police discovered that one of the suspects, Suraj Madne, has a long history of criminal activities, including tractor theft. The police found a stolen tractor outside his house and are currently investigating the case further.
Madne has a total of 15 cases registered against him in various police stations in Satara and Pune districts, while the other arrested suspects have two to three cases each on record. All are known repeat offenders with a history of serious crimes.
The arrests were made by teams from the Pune Rural Local Crime Branch under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Pankaj Deshmukh, Additional SP Ganesh Biradar, and Deputy SP Sudarshan Rathod.
The police officers involved in the successful operation included Inspector Avinash Shilimkar, Inspector Vaishali Patil, and Assistant Inspector Kuldeep Sankpah, along with other police personnel from Baramati.