20 'drunk' men rob family in Raigad, smash SUV with stumps

NAVI MUMBAI: Members of a family from Borivli, travelling by their vehicle, were waylaid, assaulted and robbed by a group of 20 men at Pen around 3am on Monday.
The assailants, who were allegedly drunk and were travelling in three cars, threw stones at the family's car, broke its window panes with cricket stumps, assaulted two men in the family's SUV, snatched their gold chains and grabbed the mangalsutra of a woman, according to the police complaint lodged by the family.
Seven members of the Mohite family - including two children and two senior citizens - were returning from Ratnagiri.
After a mid-journey halt at a restaurant at Pen in Raigad district, the family resumed their journey back home when a car intercepted the family's SUV and a man from the car hurled a stone on their SUV's windscreen, according to the complaint lodged at Dadra coastal police station.
Prashant Mohite, who was at the wheel of the SUV, gave chase intercepted the car that had sped off, and confronted the occupants of the car. As the car was damaged, four men started assaulting Mohite with the stumps and snatched gold chains worn by Mohite and his brother-in-law who had also come out of the SUV.
As Prashant's wife rushed to rescue her husband and her brother, the men also snatched her mangalsutra, it has been alleged in the plice complaint.
One car belonging to the assailants got damaged after which they abandoned it and escaped, said assistant police inspector Ajit Gole. "We have seized the car bearing a Rajasthan RTO number plate. The complainant has claimed that the assailants were drunk," he said.
A case of dacoity has been registered against the unidentified assailants, said the police officer.
The Mohite family was returning from a brief brief vacation holiday in Dapoli, said the police.