A 73- year- old merchant was abducted and robbed of cash and valuables worth Rs3 lakh by two people in a taxi near Dadar on Friday, the Matunga police said. The man was taken to Mulund check naka, where the accused, who said they were from the Chhota Rajan gang, told the taxi driver to drop him to his home in Ghatkopar.
According to police, Ashok Jamnadas Bhatia, who owns a shop at Hindmata Chowk in Dadar, was kidnapped while waiting at a bus stop in Dadar.
An officer from Matunga police station said, “After closing his shop around 8pm, Bhatia, who was carrying Rs1 lakh in cash and some other valuables in a bag, was standing at the bus stop near Dadar TT. A taxi with two people seated in the back stopped and asked if he needed to be dropped home.”
The senior citizen refused to get into the car, upon which the two men got down from the taxi, brandished a gun at him and forced him to get inside.
A police source said, ‘ The accused told the merchant they were Chhota Rajan’s henchmen and forced him t o get inside the taxi. The two men then assaulted the senior citizen and snatched his bag.”
After stealing the valuables, the accused took Bhatia to Mulund check naka and got down at LBS Marg.
“The accused then gave the taxi driver Rs 500 and asked him to drop Bhatia to his residence in Ghatkopar,” said the source.
When he reached home, the 73-year-old told his family what had happened and they approached the Matunga police.
The police registered a case under sections 363 ( kidnapping), 392 ( robbery) and 34 (acts done with the furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act.
In August 2015, two bikers kidnapped a tempo driver from outside Mahim railway station and took him to Bandra-Kurla Complex on their motorcycle, where t hey assaulted him and robbed him of his gold chain.
The tempo driver, who had noticed the biker’s registration number, immediately informed the police, who arrested the robbers at a nakabandi.