Two held, two minors detained in Baner hill robbery case

Pune: Two 18-year-old youths were arrested and their two minor accomplices were detained on Sunday in connection with the Sept 28 assault and robbery of valuables worth Rs 20,000 from a college student (19) and his friend on Baner hill.
"All the four teenagers are school dropouts from Sangvi, Navi Sangvi and adjoining localities. All of them are first-time offenders.They randomly targeted the two victims because they wanted to raise money to consume liquor. We have recovered the two cellphones belonging to the victims, a chopper and two motorcycles used in the crime," senior inspector Mahesh Bolkotgi of the Chatushrungi police said on Monday.
The complainant in the case, hailing from a northeastern state, is pursuing second-year BA studies at a college in Aundh. He and his friend had gone to Baner hill for cycling and trekking on Sept 28. The four teenagers had attacked them around 7.30pm.
The investigators were working on a few leads, including the description of the attackers provided by the complainant. They had circulated these details among informers in the areas around Baner hill.
"One of the informers tipped the police about the presence of the suspects — Ajinkya Bobade, Nikhil Dongre and two minor boys — at Vidhate Vasti in Aundh. A police team picked up the teenagers from there," Bolkotgi said.
The teenagers' questioning led to the recovery of the cellphones, two bikes and a chopper, the officer said. The IMEI numbers mentioned in the phone numbers tallied with the numbers the complainant and his friend had mentioned in the complaint.
The arrested teenagers told the police that they had gone to the hillock to commit a crime. When they saw the complainant and his friend at an isolated place, one of them brought the chopper from his residence and attacked one of the students on the right knee. Then he robbed the injured student's cellphone and that of his friend. His three accomplices abused and threatened the victims with dire consequences and took to heels, Bolkotgi said.