Rajkot: A 46-year-old
engineer and his aide were arrested on Saturday for allegedly looting over two dozen passengers travelling in state transport and private buses after drugging them.
Nitin alias Nitesh Ramesh Bhatt, an electronics engineer, and his aide Nirav Pulin Dhanak (46) were arrested from the Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway by the Rajkot crime branch following a tip-off by some passengers. Bhatt is resident of Gondal and Dhanak is resident of Kalavad road in Rajkot.
Crime branch inspector H M Gadhvi said that the accused randomly selected a bus and got seated near a person who was wearing heavy jewellery or appeared to be effluent.
“During travel they initiated conversation with the passengers and developed friendship. At the next stop the accused would get down and bring water or cold-drink mixed with sedative and offer it to the passenger. After consuming it, the passenger would become unconscious for 2-3 hours and the accused would take his cash, jewellery and other valuables,” said Gadhvi. Police recovered around 132 gram gold jewellery worth Rs 4 lakh from two accused.
Gadhvi said that Bhatt, who owned a ball bearing manufacturing unit in Gondal, took to criminal activities after he suffered huge losses two decades ago. “Since then Bhatt has been convicted for loot and robbery in nine cases by lower courts. Forty other cases are pending in courts against him,” he added.
According to Crime branch inspector H M Gadhvi, Nitin alias Nitesh Ramesh Bhattwho had done engineering from Dhule in Maharashtra, had jumped parole in December 2015 and has been absconding since then.
Police also recovered an SUV from the duo which they had allegedly stolen.
Gadhvi said that Bhatt and Dhanak have confessed to looting 25 persons, of which 21 were committed in Rajkot district. “They confessed to looting people in Ahmedabad, Amreli, Porbandar, Surat, Botad, Anand, Junagadh and outside Gujarat in Dhule, Aurangabad, Nashik and Pune,” he added.
Police said that Bhatt has a wife and a 22-year-old daughter.
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