Gang of five attack two men in tempo & steal Rs 30L, one held

Pune: Of the five armed robbers, who stole a sum of Rs30 lakh from a tempo after assaulting the driver and cleaner of the vehicle on Pune-Solapur highway near Kurkumbh on Saturday evening, was arrested the same night by the Daund police and Rs2.10 lakh was recovered from his possession.
Sub-inspector Rushikesh Adhikari told TOI, “We have arrested Pramod Gargule (36) of Wakhari village near Yavat. The search for the other four men is underway.”
Adhikari said the tempo, owned by a poultry farm owner, was headed towards Solapur to buy poultry feed. The cash was meant to buy the feed.
“The five suspects, riding on two separate motorcycles, started chasing the tempo on the highway around 8pm and managed to overtake it near Kurkumbh. They halted their motorcycles in front of the tempo and forced the driver to halt by barring his way,” Adhikari said.
The five armed men pulled out the driver, Sagar Mahahan (30) of Loni Kalbhor, and pushed him in a ditch along the highway.
The tempo cleaner, Ganesh Chavan, retaliated but the suspects assaulted him with heavy sharp weapons. He sustained deep injuries on his hand and on shoulder, police said.
The suspects then picked stole the bag of cash kept in the cabin and sped away on their motorcycles, Adikari said.
“However, the driver immediately called the police and a naka bandi was ordered on the highway and neighbouring villages. Police found a motorcycle rider moving suspiciously near Patas toll plaza around 11pm. Police decided to check his bag and found Rs2.10 lakh,” Adhikari said.
Gargule said he and the other four had split the money and he was on his way home when he was nabbed.
The names and other details of the four other men have been obtained by the police and they will be nabbed soon, Adhikari added.