Man accepts lift, robbed of valuables worth Rs 41,000 on Kolhapur-Sangli road

KOLHAPUR: Four unidentified people robbed a 34-year-old man of cash and jewellery worth Rs 41,000 after offering him a lift on the Kolhapur-Sangli road on Monday night.
According to a police officer of the Shahupuri police station, the complainant, identified as Amol Vishnu Khandagle of Patrakar Nagar, Sangli, works in a private company in Bengaluru. He alighted a Bengaluru-Pune bus at the Tawade hotel stop. He was waiting for a bus for Sangli when a car approached him and the driver offered him lift stating that he was going towards the city.
Khandagle accepted the lift and sat in the back-seat. After the car crossed the Panchaganga river bridge, three more people joined him in the car stating that they were also going to Sangli. One next to the driver, while the two others joined the complainant in the back seat — they hemmed in Khandagle from both sides. After travelling for about 20 minutes, the driver stopped the car on the side of the road and one of the men next to Khandagle took out a knife. He then asked Khandagle to hand over all the valuables he had with him.
They snatched two of his gold rings, his cellphone, watch and Rs 2,000 in cash. Overall, he was robbed of valuables worth Rs 41,000. The robbers drove the car from one place to another before dropping Khandagle off at Halondi village at around 3 am. Amol rushed to Shahupuri police station and lodged a complaint.
“We have registered a case against unidentified persons under section 392 (punishment for robbery), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC. We are gathering information and searching for CCTV cameras in the area where the incident took place and along the route taken by the car. We are gathering information on criminals on police record who are involved in these types of crimes,” said a police officer attached with the Shahupuri police station.