Mumbai: 31-year-old man arrested for robbing naval officer at gunpoint\, say police

Mumbai: 31-year-old man arrested for robbing naval officer at gunpoint, say police

The Indian Navy officer claimed that after they got into his car, the man had whipped out a firearm and demanded Rs 40,000. He also forced him to drive to a nearby ATM and withdraw the money, the officer told police said.

Written by Sagar Rajput | Mumbai | Published: February 29, 2020 6:53:57 am
Mumbai: 31-year-old man arrested for robbing naval officer at gunpoint, say police A view of Metro Cinema. (Express Archive)

A 31-year-old man, arrested for allegedly robbing an Indian Navy officer at gunpoint, has accused the latter of gay sex, police said Friday.

The officer, police said, filed a complaint at Azad Maidan police station on February 23, claiming that he was robbed of Rs 40,000 by a man he had met at a toilet near Metro Cinema on February 22. The officer, in his statement to police, said the accused had struck a conversation with him and told him that he aspired to join the Indian Navy.

The man, police said, requested the officer to drop him at Colaba. The officer claimed that after they got into his car, the man had whipped out a firearm and demanded Rs 40,000. He also forced him to drive to a nearby ATM and withdraw the money, the officer told police said.

“While checking the footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area, where the officer claimed to have been robbed, we found that the naval officer had walked to the ATM kiosk alone to withdraw the cash,” a police officer said. Police later circulated a photograph of the accused, caught on a CCTV camera footage, among informers and received a tip-off on his location. He was arrested from his Mira Road residence on Thursday night.

According to police, the accused claimed that he had met the naval officer at a toilet near Metro Cinema and had struck a conversation. The accused, police said, has claimed to have gay sex with the naval officer, but later had an argument over the matter. “The accused has claimed that he threatened to reveal the officer’s sexuality to others and had demanded Rs 40,000 from him. He has also claimed that the officer had paid him only Rs 30,000,” a police officer said.

The accused has been booked under sections 392 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code and other sections of the Arms Act. He was produced in court Friday and has been remanded in police custody till March 3.

“As there are conflicting versions, we are trying to get the complainant to the police station and cross verify. We have tried to reach him, but officers in the Indian Navy said that he is out on a ship,” a police officer said.