A 41-year-old deputy manager with a private bank in Bandra-Kurla Complex was robbed at gunpoint of cash, a laptop and a mobile phone by an unidentified man who entered his SUV through the unlocked rear door at the jampacked Kherwadi junction on the Western Express Highwayon Tuesdayevening.
The accused forced him to drive to an isolated location near Sion railway bridge, trussed him up on the back seat and then drove to different locations in the city all the way till Crawford Market in south Mumbai, where the SUV stopped due to some problem. The accused and an accomplice he had called up then forcibly took his debit and credit cards and withdrew Rs 80,000 from an ATM in the vicinity. They also took away the bank employee’s laptop and mobile phone. He was finally let off at Fort at11pm.
After registering a case, MRA Marg police forwarded it to their counterparts at Kherwadi for further probe as the accused got into the car there at6.40pm.
On Tuesday, the victim had left his BKC office around6pm. He was headed towards his Yari Road residence in Versova when the crime took place. “Initially one person, aged around 35-40 years, entered the victim’s SUV through the rear door, flashed a gun and took him to an isolated location near Sion railway station bridge. Later, he drove to different locations after tying the victim’s hands and legs and making him sit on the backseat. He then called an accomplice on reaching Crawford Market where the accused forcibly took the victim’s credit and debit cards and withdrew Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000,” said MRA Marg police senior inspector Sukhlal Varpe.
The first accused managed to enter the car on finding the door unlocked. In the complaint, the victim said, “The accused entered my car from the rear seconds after I stopped at the Kherwadi signal. He stuck a gun to my back and asked me to drive towards Sion. After tying me up, he began to drive.”
The carjacker first drove to the Sion Hospital locality. From there, he drove towards Dadar TT and reached Crawford Market where he called up an accomplice. “The accomplice, too, pointed a gun at the victim and extracted his banking credit and debit cards, which they used to withdraw money from an ATM. They left him and his car behind after his vehicle developed some technical problem. Before fleeing, they also stole his laptop and mobile phone,” said Varpe.
The bank officer’s office colleagues told TOI that he has got the network service provider to block his SIM card and did not report to workon Wednesday. “He was in a state of shock after being threatened and robbed,” said the bank’s spokesperson.
A case has been filed under the Indian Penal Code sections 34 (common intention), 342 (wrongful confinement), 363 (kidnap), 397 (robbery or dacoity with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and under the Arms Act against two unidentified men. “Though the case has been transferred to Kherwadi police station, we too are probing the case and it will be cracked soon after identifying the accused with the help of CCTV grabs sought from the ATM,” said the investigators.