Trio assault and rob 25-year-old near Balewadi stadium

PUNE: Three men assaulted a 25-year-old man with iron rods before robbing him of his debit card, cellphone worth Rs2000 and even his sports shoes. The trio then forced the victim to reveal the PIN number of his debit card and later withdrew Rs9,200 from an ATM.
The robbery took place on the service road of the Katraj-Dehu Road bypass near Chhatrapati Shivaji Stadium in Balewadi in the early hours of Saturday. The victim, Palash Chincholikar of Hinjewadi, sustained head injuries in the assault and was taken to hospital. “After treatment, Chincholikar approached the Hinjewadi police station on Tuesday and lodged a complaint,” said assistant inspector G J Dhamane.

Dhamane said that Chincholikar hails from Indore in Madhya Pradesh and works in a private company in Hinjewadi. “On Friday night, Chincholikar and his friend had gone to Baner for dinner in their car,” Dhamane added.

He said that while returning home around 1am, their car stopped near the stadium. “Suspecting that it had run out of petrol, Chincholikar got down and started walking along the service road in search of a petrol pump. His friend was waiting for him by the car,” Dhamane said.

When Chincholikar reached the stadium’s main gate, three men on a motorcycle stopped him. “They threatened him and started hitting him with their hands. Later, they assaulted him with iron rods. The trio snatched Chincholikar’s cellphone, debit card and even forced him to remove his sports shoes,” Dhamane said.

The suspects then forced him to reveal his debit card’s PIN number before fleeing. “Chincholikar took help from a passerby and called up his friend, who rushed to the spot and took Chincholikar to the hospital,” Dhamane said.

It was discovered later that the suspects had withdrawn Rs9,200 from his account. “We are checking the CCTV footage at the ATM,” Dhamane said.

About 15 minutes before the Balewadi robbery, three men beat up and robbed a 37-year-old bank manager of his cash, cellphone and credit/debit cards, totally worth Rs3,500, near Mahatma society in Kothrud in the early hours of Saturday. The manager, who was returning home, sustained injuries on the head as he had also been attacked with stones. “We are suspecting the involvement of the same trio in both the robberies as the modus operandi was similar. We have launched a search to trace the suspects,” said an officer from the crime branch.