Minor among 2 held for looting auto driver

RABALE: Two people, including a minor, were nabbed by Rabale police for posing as passengers and looting an autorickshaw driver of Rs4,500 and a mobile phone on Tuesday.

According to the police, the incident occurred around midnight on Tuesday.

The victim, Sanjay Rathod, 24, normally picked up passengers from the autorickshaw stand at Vashi railway station.

“On Tuesday, two people sat in my autorickshaw. First they asked me to take them to Kopar Khairane. Once we reached there, they asked to be dropped at a temple near the Ghansoli creek area,” said Rathod.

According t o Rathod, as soon as they re a ch e d the deserted area, one of the passengers threatened him with a knife and t he other t ook away Rs4,500 and Rathod’s mobile phone. The two fled when they heard a motorcycle approaching.

Rathod informed the Rabale police immediately and the police began a search operation.

“A s our teams looked around, we found two youths roaming in a suspicious manner in Gharunda area,” said senior inspector Chandrakant Katkar. “When we searched t hem, we f ound t he stolen mobile phone. The duo was detained.”

“Since one of the accused was a minor, he has been sent to the child reform centre. The other youth was identified as Vishal Kajari, 18, who has been arrested,” said Katkar,

“We are interrogating the arrested youth to find out if they were involved in other similar cases,” said Katkar.

Both the accused were residents of Ghansoli.

ONE PASSENGER THREATENED THE AUTO DRIVER WITH A KNIFE AND THE OTHER TOOK AWAY RS4,500 AND A MOBILE PHONE