A shocking case of honeytrap and robbery has come to light in Mumbai, where a man was assaulted with chilli powder and robbed of valuables. Police acted swiftly and arrested the woman who was accompanying the complainant, revealing that she herself was the mastermind of the racket. The entire incident took place in the Aarey Colony area.
According to details unearthed during the investigation, the woman who accompanied the complainant had been distributing pamphlets to recruit girls for work. During this activity, she met the complainant, Mohammad Hanif Sabul Khan (45), and gradually initiated contact with him. After gaining his trust, she took Khan to a hotel and allegedly served him a soft drink laced with an unknown substance. She then called a known autorickshaw driver, placed Khan in the vehicle, and headed towards Aarey Colony.
On the way, the autorickshaw driver deliberately pretended to lose his way and halted the vehicle at a secluded spot. Moments later, two men arrived on a motorcycle and threw chilli powder into Khan’s eyes. The gang then robbed him of cash and gold ornaments before fleeing. The woman also pretended that her mobile phone had been stolen in an attempt to mislead the police.
However, the investigation team led by Police Sub-Inspector Sachin Panchal cracked the case skillfully and arrested all four accused, including the woman.
Initially, the complaint appeared to be a simple case of theft. But as the investigation progressed, the larger honeytrap and robbery plot began to unravel.
The police team examined 17 CCTV footage clips from near the crime scene. Though two suspects were spotted, their faces were unclear, making identification difficult. Despite this, swift action, support from informers, and a coordinated search operation helped the police trace and arrest the accused within just seven hours.
The arrested accused have been identified as Vishal Siddharth Wagh (27), Namesh Surve (23), Jahagir Qureshi (25), and Shahrin Qureshi (24). Police recovered valuables worth ₹10.50 lakh from them, including a gold chain worth ₹5 lakh, a Pulsar motorcycle, and an autorickshaw. It has also been revealed that Vishal Wagh has a previous criminal record involving robbery and assault.