The Mumbai police arrested three men from Rajasthan for allegedly attacking an angadia employee with a knife and chili powder before fleeing with Rs 1.5 crore cash in South Mumbai.
Police said that initially, the angadia had reported a robbery of only Rs 10 lakhs, but it was later found that Rs 1.5 crore had been stolen, which was recovered from a deep hole near a stadium in Mandwa village, where the accused had buried the loot.
According to police, while the three accused–Yuvraj Singh Rajput (22), Anurag Rajput (20), and Harjiram Gujjar (36)—hail from Rajasthan, Anurag settled in Mumbai and was working for Ganesh Courier company, which was targeted by the group.
Police said between 7pm and 9 pm on December 20, the complainant, Inderkumar Prajapati, and his colleague Anurag were handed two bags by their employer, Harish Prajapati. The duo was told that each bag contained Rs 5 lakhs and were asked to transport them.
On their way, near Shrinath Cooperative Society at Gulalwadi Circle in Girgaon, they were accosted by two unidentified men who threatened them with a knife and fled after snatching the bags from both of them. The attackers also stabbed Anurag during the incident and threw chili powder in their eyes before fleeing.
Police said Inderkumar then contacted his employer and informed him about the robbery, following which a case was registered at the VP Road police station in South Mumbai.
“While handing over the bags, the employer had initially claimed that only Rs 10 lakhs were in the bags, so a case was registered accordingly. However, he later appeared before us and revealed that the bags actually contained Rs 1.5 crore,” said a police officer investigating the case.
During the course of the investigation, police started looking for leads through CCTV footage and call data records, which led them to Yuvraj’s involvement.
“We got his mobile number and found that his phone was switched off after reaching Rajasthan. However, through human intelligence, we located him in Sirohi and brought him to Mumbai,” an officer said. Later, during questioning, he revealed his brother Anurag’s role, who worked at the courier company and provided inside information. The two colluded and decided to rob Prajapati.
Following Yuvraj and Anurag’s arrest and their interrogation, Gujjar’s involvement was ascertained and he was arrested at Ahmedabad railway station.
“We have also identified their fourth accomplice, who is on the run. Our teams are trying to locate him,” an officer said.
However, despite the arrests and searches of their homes and other premises, the VP Road police were unable to recover the stolen cash. As a result, they conducted sustained interrogation of Yuvraj, who then revealed that he had hidden the cash in a deep hole near Polytechnic College and a stadium in Mandwa village.