Pune cab driver by day, robber by night held

PIMPRI CHINCHWAD: He would ferry passengers in his car that was attached to a cab aggregator company during the day. As night fell, however, Pappu Kamble (28) would use the vehicle to offer lifts to passengers and then rob them.

Within a span of six days, between April 20 and 26, Kamble and his two accomplices allegedly robbed as many as 10 people.
Kamble (28) and his accomplice Sunny Ghadge (24) were arrested by the Talegaon Dabhade police in Nigdi on Thursday. The police have solved three cases so far based on details provided by the duo. “We have launched a manhunt for a third accomplice,” senior inspector Sudhakar Kate of the Talegaon Dabhade police station told TOI .
The police officer said that the trio had been operating on the Pune-Mumbai expressway between Hinjewadi and Talegaon. “Ghadge and the suspect who is on the run, have similar offences registered against them with the Nigdi police,” Kate said.
Cab driver by day, robber by night held
On April 26 around 12.30am, a Satara-based businessman Pratap Bhanushali (53) and his brother Valji Bhanushali were waiting for transport to go to Mumbai. “A cab stopped near them and the driver offered them a lift to Mumbai for just Rs 300, each,” said assistant inspector Pramod Kshirsagar.
There were two other people in the car. After plying some distance on the Pune-Mumbai expressway, the driver stopped the vehicle along the service road. The trio threatened the Bhanushali brothers with sharp weapons and thrashed them. “They then robbed the duo of cash worth Rs 20,000 as well as other valuables and fled the scene after abandoning them along the road,” Kshirsagar said.
On receiving a complaint from Bhanushali, a team from the Talegaon Dabhade police station checked the available CCTV footage and carried out investigations. “We also alerted our informers. We got a tip-off that the suspects would be coming to Bhakti Shakti chowk in Nigdi,” Kshirsagar said.
The police laid a trap and arrested Kamble and Ghadge on Thursday. “We found Bhanushali’s bag containing his clothes and bank passbook. We also found a smart phone in the car,” he said.
Gang targeted over 10 people
During the investigation, Kamble and Ghadge revealed that they had robbed 10 passengers between April 20 and 26. “The smartphone we seized from them belonged to one of the passengers whom they had targeted under the Wakad bridge,” Kshirsagar said.
He said the police had solved another robbery registered with the Dehu Road police. “In most cases, the victims were from Mumbai. They did not lodge a complaint in cases wherein cellphones and small amounts of cash were robbed,” Kshirsagar added.