Three held for tying up, robbing 60-year-old woman of jewellery worth Rs 58.87 lakh

Pune: Chikhali police on Friday arrested three men for allegedly tying up a 60-year-old woman at her bungalow and robbing her of gold and silver jewellery and cash collectively worth Rs 58.87 lakh on Oct 13. The police have recovered the entire booty from the accused.A police team led by senior police inspector Ranjeet Jadhav arrested the accused — Anarulla Chaudhari (36) of Kudalwadi, Abdul Momin (39) of Kandivali in Mumbai and Samiullah Khan (32) of Mumbra — with the help of CCTV footage and a tip-off.Jadhav told TOI that Chaudhari had been thrown out of his house and needed money to fund his addictions. The other two accused were his childhood friends. He contacted them and hatched a plan to commit a theft at a godown in Kudalwadi. The duo came to Chikhali on Oct 12.The three were having tea at an eatery near the victim’s house in Jyotibanagar, Talawade. “They learnt that the eatery owner lived in a nearby bungalow. When they walked past the bungalow, they found that it was the only one in the area, surrounded by shops,” Jadhav said.He said the accused saw an elderly woman going to the first floor of the bungalow, while the door to the ground floor was locked. “The trio then hatched a plan to rob the woman,” he said.Around 1.30am on Oct 13, the trio allegedly broke the locks of the main door and barged into the woman’s first-floor residence. One of them sat on the woman while she was fast asleep, and his accomplices tied her limbs and gagged her with a sari. They allegedly assaulted her and threatened her with a knife before fleeing with 730gm of gold jewellery and silver jewellery collectively worth Rs 57.87 lakh.“After receiving the complaint, our team swung into action. We checked more than 70 CCTV cameras and traced the accused’s motorcycle. We could not trace the motorcycle beyond Kudalwadi, following which we focused our investigation there,” Jadhav said.He added that the police acted on a tip-off received by inspector Amol Phadtare and took the trio into custody. The police also seized the motorcycle and a sharp weapon from them.