Pune: A gang of robbers diverted the attention of a 70-year-old retired army colonel to make away with his bag containing Rs 32,000 and a cellphone from his car on Tuesday.
Tikamsingh Chattarsingh Tanwar from Mohammadwadi has lodged a complaint with the Kondhwa police.
“The retired colonel had withdrawn Rs 32,000 from the Kondhwa branch of the Vijaya Bank, which he kept in a khaki bag. When he reached his car around 1.15pm, Tanwar kept the bag near the foot rest of his vehicle,” an officer from the Kondhwa police said.
Around this time, an unidentified man knocked on the window glass and signalled Tanwar that something had fallen from his car. “Tanwar looked out of the vehicle window and saw currency notes strewn on the ground,” the officer said.
After spotting the currency notes, Tanwar told the person that the money did not belong to him. “Tanwar was about to start the car when he realized that the left door of his vehicle was open and the bag containing cash and a cellphone, collectively worth Rs 33,100, had been stolen,” the officer said, adding that he checked his car to locate the bag, but to no avail.
Realising that he had been tricked, Tanwar tried to check the CCTV cameras in and around the bank. In doing so, he spent about 1 hour 15 minutes. Not able to locate the bag or any clues about the suspects, he approached the Kondhwa police. “Besides the cash and a cellphone, his bag also contained cheque books and bank passbooks,” police said.
Tanwar told police that the suspect was in the age group of forty years. “He was about 5.7ft in height and was wearing a black shirt,” police said.
TOI made several attempts to get in touch with Tanwar on his telephone and cellphone, but his phones remained unreachable. Senior inspector Milind Gaikwad of the Kondhwa police said, “CCTV cameras installed at the bank have captured the images of one of the suspects. We are in the process of establishing his identity.”
