Bizman robbed in Mumbai; police nab 4 culprits after checking CCTV footage of long highway stretch

Four persons traveling in a cab allegedly intercepted the car of a businessman and robbed him of his mobile phone and gold chain on the busy Western Express Highway (WEH) in Mumbai, a police official said on Monday.

The four persons, who fled after the incident on May 25 in their white cab, were arrested on Saturday after the police zeroed in on them while checking the CCTV footage of some 35 cars that passed through the long highway route after the crime, he said.

The victim in his police complaint said while he was traveling alone on the Western Express Highway, a major north-south arterial road in the city, the accused allegedly overtook his car, stopped their cab in front of his vehicle, and started abusing him.

The accused later pulled the victim out of his car and also snatched his mobile phone and gold chain worth Rs 2 lakh, the official from Kasturba Marg police station said. Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR and began a probe into the case.

The police checked the CCTV footage at key spots ahead on the WEF and checked some 35 white cabs which passed from there after the incident.

As per the time of crime mentioned by the victim, the police later kept the focus of their probe on one cab. They then caught Bhavin Swami (29), who was driving the cab at the time of the incident. Based on the information provided by him, the police later nabbed the three other accused - Sarfaraz alias Prince Shaikh (26), Manish Kumar Gopal Turi (28), and Ankit Patel (22).

"The four accused were nabbed from different parts of Mumbai and neighboring districts. We have recovered the victim's mobile phone and gold chain from them. Efforts are on to nab one more person in connection with the case,'' Kasturba Marg police station's senior inspector Anil Awhad said. The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code section 392 (robbery) and other relevant provisions, he said, adding that further probe into the case is on.