Five arrested for Dahisar daylight robbery, murder

With the arrest of five persons, the police claimed to have cracked the case of robbery and murder of a 37-year-old jeweller in Dahisar (East) within 24 hours. The 30 tolas of gold that had been stolen has been recovered, said police.

The deceased, Shailendra Pandey, was shot at from point blank range at his jewellery store in Rawalpada on Wednesday morning. The entire incident took place between 10.06 am and 10.14 am when Pandey had just opened the store. Two men entered the store while the third waited outside. The men had come on a scooter and fled on the same after two of them opened fire and one bullet hit Pandey.

Vishwas Nangre Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order, said, “The motive was pure robbery. The accused had conducted a recce of the area.”

“The plan was hatched in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. A day before committing the crime, the three men had come to Mumbai. They were trained to operate guns at a jungle in Indore. They had bought the gun used to kill Pandey for Rs 30,000 from Madhya Pradesh. It has been seized,” he added.

While the police identifed Ayush Pandey (19) Nikhil Chandal (21), Uday Bali (21) as the three men who came to the store on the scooter, the other two men who have been arrested are Chirag Rawal (21) and his friend Ankit Mahadik (21), both residents of Dahisar.

The police said the plan was hatched by Banti Patidar (22), a resident of Madhya Pradesh, a wanted man, along with Rawal’s help. Patidar had sent his men to Mumbai to rob the store.

“A team comprising assistant inspectors Chandrakant Gharge and Om Totavar found out that the scooter was stolen just a day before the crime from Dahisar. The accused had come in a Honda City car to steal the scooter, which was captured on CCTV cameras,” said an officer.

“After stealing the scooter, they took it to Dahisar (West) and slept in the car there. The car owner has said that he sold it to Rawal 15 days ago. The scooter was abandoned at Chincholi naka and the three travelled further by taking lifts in other vehicles,” the officer added.

After Rawal and Mahadik were arrested, Rawal identified the three men from his social media profile. The men were traced to Barbodhan village in Surat. “They were returning to Madhya Pradesh,” said the officer.