Mumbai: Four persons have been booked by Mankhurd Police for looting Rs 16.58 lakh from a cash van at Mankhurd on Panvel-Sion highway. The robbery occurred at 4 pm on Wednesday at Service Road, Dhobi Ghat, Mankhurd (W), police said.
According to police, a cash van of Securitrans Private Limited was travelling towards Mumbai after collecting cash from the ticket counter at Mankhurd railway station. The cash was to be delivered at Goregaon. A driver, a manager and one security guard were present in the cash van.
The four unknown accused, their faces covered with handkerchiefs, stepped out of an Alto (MH-02-AK-6058) car and stopped the van. The quartet, wielding choppers and firearms, stopped the car and threatened the driver Vaibhav Chavan, the manager and the security guard to hand over the money to them, or else they would kill him.The accused looted cash worth Rs 16.58 lakh and fled in their car.
According to Police Inspector Sudhir Hemade, Mankhurd police station, “There was another bag of cash kept inside the car which the accused did not see. Since there are no CCTV cameras in the area, it is difficult to trace the accused. However, we shall gather details of the owner of the Alto car through the registration number.” The local crime branch is conducting a parallel probe in this matter.
“The security agency would keep changing the vehicle every 15 days to ensure that no one kept track of the vehicle. We are suspecting that it is an inside job,” Hemade said.
The unknown accused have been booked for robbery (Section 392), mischief causing damage (Section 427) and common intention (Section 34) of the Indian Penal Code and possession of firearms (Sections 3 and 25) of the Arms Act.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered by Vaibhav Bhavan Chavan, 21, the driver of the van.