3Three-member Maharashtra gang robs money exchange owner, arrested

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thampanoor police have arrested a three-member gang from Maharashtra for robbing Rs 4.5 lakh from a money exchange owner after assaulting him inside a hotel room at Thampanoor on Wednesday.The arrested persons are Sagar Gireesh Chitnis, 44, of Ganpat Mandir Road, Thane, and Shashank Syam Pawar, 29, and Ashwin Kale, 25, both hailing from Veer Savarkar Nagar in Nashik.

The trio, under the pretext of converting $6,000, called over Faisal, owner of a money exchange firm, to the hotel. When he arrived with Rs 4.35 lakh, Sagar and Shashank attacked him and decamped with the cash. The two then boarded a taxi car that was booked by Ashwin and left for Kollam.

Faisal immediately informed Thampanoor police, who checked the footage from CCTV system and identified the car driver. The police conveyed the incident to the car driver and directed him to reach Kallambalam police station. Though the culprits tried to escape, police managed to chased them down. 

The arrests were made within one hour of the incident, said DCP Divya V Gopinath. She said the trio had been involved in similar crimes in other states and the police forces of those states will be informed of the arrests. The accused were presented before the local court, which remanded them in judicial custody.