Gang of six looted family at knife-point in Satara Parisar

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

In a shocking incident, six armed robbers broke into a home in Aloknagar, Pawar Vasti, located in the Satara area, and fled with gold ornaments worth Rs 1.5 lakh from women in the house along with some cash, on Tuesday (May 20) at around 1.30 am. The robbers were armed with iron rods, shovels, and knives and threatened a father and son by holding sharp-edged weapons to their throats and forcibly snatched jewellery from the women in the household. A case has been registered at the Satara Police Station, and investigations are underway.

The chilling incident unfolded around midnight during unseasonal rainfall. The armed robbers, who were wearing monkey caps and wielding machetes, knives, swords, and iron rods (tommy bars) went on a rampage in Aloknagar, near Auria Villagia Society. The gang targeted the house of Kiran Joshi, situated along the main road leading to the housing society. Seeing the house locked, three robbers climbed to the first floor, but when they couldn't open the door, they locked it from the outside and moved on. The robbers then tried to break into the bungalow of the Sahani family, located near Ramdoot Hanuman Temple. Failing to open the main gate, they moved to the house of Sandeep Hadoltikar next door. However, they were unsuccessful here as well and eventually left empty-handed. All six robbers were captured on CCTV installed at Sahani’s residence, which could prove vital in identifying and apprehending them.

Break-in through the channel gate into the bungalow

After failing in their initial attempts, the robbers broke open the channel gate of the bungalow belonging to Nilesh Pravin Bagul and gained entry. The house was occupied by Nilesh, his parents, brother, both their wives, and children. As Nilesh’s father Pravin, was sleeping in the hall, the robbers held a machete to his throat and forced him to instruct his son to open the bedroom door. Hearing his father’s voice, Nilesh opened the door, only to have a machete held to his throat as well.

Once inside the bedroom, the robbers threatened Nilesh’s wife with a knife and demanded that she hand over the gold ornaments she was wearing. At that moment, an unseasonal power outage due to the rain gave the robbers an added advantage. The robbers remained inside the bungalow for over half an hour.

Jewellery, cash, taken by robbers

The robbers tried their best to snatch away Nilesh's two-year-old son, but his wife displayed courage and protected him. She said, “I won’t give you the child, take whatever else you want.”

Following this, the robbers took away gold jewellery kept in almirah and worn by women worth Rs 1.5 lakh, and also took cash and even loose change kept from the family's grocery store earnings.

Mobile phones snatched, family locked in bedroom

Before fleeing the house, the robbers snatched the mobile phones of Nilesh, his wife, and his father. They told the victims they would throw the phones outside. After that, the robbers locked all three of them inside a bedroom. The gang then locked the outer channel gate and escaped from the scene.

Shaken by the incident, Nilesh called out to his brother Chetan, who had been sleeping upstairs. Upon hearing the calls, Chetan came downstairs and opened the bedroom door. Terrified Nilesh and his father told the story to Chetan and his wife. Chetan then informed the neighbours and called the police to report the crime.

Swift response from Satara Police

As soon as the incident was reported, Police Inspector Sangram Tathe of the Satara Police Station, along with other officers and personnel, rushed to the crime scene. The police tracked the locations of the three stolen mobile phones using mobile tower data. They recovered Nilesh’s phone in an open area near the Ram Temple, right in front of the bungalow.

A dog squad and fingerprint experts were immediately summoned to assist in the investigation. However, due to the rain, the sniffer dog was unable to track the scent. Fingerprints of the robbers were successfully lifted from the cupboards inside the house. Police remained at the scene until 5 am, conducting a thorough investigation. Based on initial leads, they suspect that the robbers may have escaped via the Dhule–Solapur Highway.