Akola: Three middle-class youths, in an effort to flaunt their ‘affluent lifestyle’ on social media, snatched a bag from a 73-year-old man late Thursday night.
Thakurdas Nagwani (73), a resident of Sindhi Camp, Akola, lodged a complaint at City Kotwali police station stating that on April 10, around 9.15pm, two men snatched and fled with his bag as he was passing by the Kholeshwar area on his motorcycle. The bag contained Rs13,500 cash, 8 notes of 100 US dollars, and important documents.
Investigation revealed that although all three accused had a middle-class background, they wanted to pose like the rich and affluent on social media. To flaunt a pretentious lifestyle of glitz and glamour, they wore expensive branded clothes, footwear, goggles, and even undergarments, with some reportedly worth Rs1,000 each. Police said the footwear of the accused were priced between Rs5,000-10,000. To be able to fund this lifestyle, they chose a shortcut — robbery. Their strategy was to identify people carrying large sums of money, follow them, and rob them while keeping their face covered to hide their identity. Their social media content showed them riding bikes with girlfriends, wearing luxurious brands, and pretending to be rich.
The City Kotwali police cracked the case and arrested the accused within 24 hours of the crime. The police recovered Rs13,500 cash, US dollars’ worth around Rs70,000 and two motorcycles used in the crime. The cumulative seizure is valued at Rs1.83 lakh.
Based on tip-off and CCTV footage, the City Kotwali’s detection branch identified and detained Manoj Ludere (20), a resident of Bapunagar, Akot File, Rohit Ingole (19), a resident of Malkapur and Ansh Patekar (20), a resident of Banjara Colony, Balode Layout. When put to intense questioning, they confessed to the crime. A case under IPC Sections 309(4), 3(5) was registered.
The operation was executed under the guidance of superintendent of police Bachchan Singh, additional SP Abhay Dongre, and sub-divisional police officer (city division) Satish Kulkarni. The key members of the investigation team were PI Sunil Kinge, PSI Balu Pawar, police hawaldars Ashwin Sirsat, Ajay Bhatkar, Khwaja Shaikh, Kishor Yeul, and police constable Nilesh Bunde.