Five members of inter-state gang of robbers, including one from Chikkamagaluru, held

Police have arrested five members of an inter-state gang days after they allegedly robbed a courier office owner of more than Rs 73,000 using weapons at Manickpur in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, an official said on Wednesday.

The action was taken by the Crime Detection Cell of Manickpur police under the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar police commissionerate, he said.

The incident had occurred on August 19, when armed dacoits stormed into a courier office and robbed the owner of Rs 73,700 at gunpoint and using a chopper, senior inspector Raju Mane of the Manickpur police station said.

The police examined the footage of 100 CCTV cameras and based on technical and intelligence inputs, they initially apprehended Ajay Balram Mandal, a local resident, whose interrogation led to the arrest of other accused, he said.

They were identified as Shankar Gowda from Chikkamagaluru in Karnataka, Vijay Singh from Uttar Pradesh, Mohammad Shaikh from New Delhi and Lalmani Yadav from Jharkhand, he added.

The accused already face criminal cases in various states in India, including Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra, Mane said.

In connection with the Manickpur incident, the police registered a case against them under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 310 (dacoity), 311 (robbery or dacoity with intent to cause death or grievous hurt), 309 (robbery), 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and others, he said.

During the investigation, the police recovered an automatic pistol, eight live rounds, a car and other material, collectively worth Rs 3.14 lakh, he said.