Robbery victim had given money to help masterminds in Nagpur

NAGPUR: Eighty-two-year-old Naresh Potdukhe had helped his driver Vinayak Mundafale (54) and his friend Vinod Sontakke (49) several times in the past, but that did not stop them from planning an armed robbery at his residence at Indraprastha Housing Society last week. They had also drawn a map for the burglars to follow after entering the house.
The three burglars had decamped with valuables worth Rs32 lakh, including cash Rs25 lakh, from Potdukhe’s residence after stabbing him repeatedly. CP Amitesh Kumar was constantly monitoring the investigation by DCP crime Shubhangi Deshmukh and Zonal DCP Anurag Jain.
Potdukhe had been staying alone as his wife had gone to his daughter’s place for treatment.
Mundafale and Sontakke were arrested along with Laizer Lawrence alias Sanitizer (18) and Shubham Manke (27) by crime branch, and handed over to Sonegaon police on Saturday. The four were sent to police custody remand for seven days, said Sonegaon police station senior inspector Baliram Singh Pardesi. Two of their accomplices are still at large.
Potdukhe met Mundafale after seeing his advertisement in a newspaper seeking financial help to save his ailing son. Potdukhe had not only offered financial help to Mundafale, then a stranger for him, for his son’s treatment but also engaged him as his driver.
Mundafale had introduced Sontakke to Potdukhe as his friend. Sontakke too had started taking monetary assistance from Potdukhe to settle his bank loans and other debts. He had borrowed around Rs4 lakh in all from Potdukhe over different occasions.
Despite receiving these favours, Mundafale and Sontakke had plotted the robbery and shared the house map with one Pawan Atram, now on the run, to execute the robbery.
After conducting a recce and visiting the place on numerous occasions, Mundafale and Sontakke had drawn the entry and exit routes, positions of the CCTVs, rooms, position and place of the almirahs, vaults and other details. It’s learnt the map was so effective that the burglars managed to find the CCTVs in the dark and alter the camera position.
The burglars had entered the house through the rear door, by breaking open the lock and latch, and assaulted Potdukhe to intimidate him and flee with the valuables and cash.
The cops, who checked CCTVs and cellphone tower locations and call details, had spotted some suspects on scooters riding triple seat, and another three on a bike. While the gang on the bike turned out to be linked to Mundafale and Sontakke, the other three on scooters were apparently involved in other thefts in the vicinity, and are still being traced.