Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: On one hand, citizens are being openly robbed on city roads under the threat of weapons; on the other, passengers’ valuables have also become increasingly unsafe. In one incident, a woman returning to the city after attending her nephew’s wedding was robbed of gold ornaments weighing 10 tolas by a gang of women inside a moving bus. In a separate incident at the Cidco bus stand, women thieves were caught red-handed while attempting to steal jewellery.
Surekha Patil (of Shastrinagar) had travelled to Chopda in Jalgaon on December 5. On December 6, around 1 pm, she boarded an ST bus along with her sister-in-law to return to the city. Around 4 pm, two women boarded the bus near Phulambri. One stood close to Surekha while the other sat behind. Out of courtesy, Surekha offered the woman next to her some space to sit. Even when other seats became vacant at Sawangi Phata, the woman refused to move to an empty seat.
At around 5 pm, Surekha got off at Mill Corner with her purse from the luggage rack on her shoulder and a bag in her hand. The two women also hurriedly alighted and fled. After getting into an auto-rickshaw, Surekha noticed that the chain of her purse was open and the jewellery box inside was missing. The stolen jewellery included a 5-tola mangalsutra, 3.5-tola ear ornaments (vel), 7-gram earrings and a 5-gram ring. After reaching home and collecting purchase receipts, she lodged a complaint at the City Chowk police station on Monday. A case has been registered.
Women thieves caught red-handed at Cidco Bus Stand
On December 8, around 11 am, Archana Khandare (of Mukundwadi) was boarding a city bus from the Cidco bus stand towards Baba Petrol Pump. In the crowd, she felt a sudden pull at her neck. A commotion followed, during which the crowd managed to catch two women thieves. The women had attempted to snatch Archana’s 6-gram mangalsutra and a 4-gram gold chain belonging to Ashwini Pote. Citizens caught Chandni Laxman Pawar (of Mitmita) and Pinky Sushil Mishra and handed them over to the MIDC Cidco Police. Their third accomplice managed to escape.