Two arrested for robbery in separate cases

The Mumbai crime branch on Thursday arrested two accused in separate cases of robbery and dacoity. One of the arrested accused is allegedly involved in 100 such cases in the city and neighbouring districts.

In the first case, the accused Santosh Gopal Nair, 51, had been on the run for 15 years. On March 8, 2004, Nair along with four others, robbed a diamond workshop in Dahisar. While the police had managed to arrest his aides and recover a pistol, six cartridges, four choppers and knives from their possession, Nair had fled the spot.

“We got a tip off that he had been staying in Pune. We sent a team there and nabbed him on Thursday. He was brought to the city and produced in court. He has been remanded in police custody till Monday,” said a crime branch official.

He started committing robberies in 1985 when he was 16, said police. Nair operated with six others, who called themselves ‘the Nair gang.’ Nair has been charged in more than 100 cases of robbery, dacoity and house break-in in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, said police.

In the second case, Dilip Patel, 55, was arrested. In 1987, Patel and five others robbed 960 grams of gold from a jewellery store in Mulund. All the accused had been arrested but after being let out on bail, Patel stopped attending court hearings. The court then issued a non-bailable warrant against Patel, said police inspector Satish Taware of unit 7.

Patel was arrested from Gujarat’s Panchmahal district, 495km from Mumbai. He was produced in court and remanded in judicial custody.

First Published: Apr 12, 2019 06:23 IST