Chain snatcher who injured Ghatkopar resident last week nabbed from Pune

Mumbai Police have arrested a chain snatcher from Pune district who was allegedly involved in a robbery case at Ghatkopar.

The accused, Akash Bhagwan Lokhande, was traced through an extensive technical investigation and arrested from the MIDC area of Talegaon in Pune.

The robbery took place around 7 pm on May 20, when the 23-year-old complainant, a resident of Bhatwadi in Ghatkopar (West), Mumbai, was walking towards her house.

When the complainant reached Wagadwala Lane near the Water Department gate, a man on a motorcycle attempted to snatch the gold chain from her neck. When she resisted and tried to stop him, the accused violently sped off, knocking her down and injuring her.

A case was registered following her complaint and an investigation was launched by the police. Special teams, comprising crime detection officers from Ghatkopar and eight other police stations under Zone 7, were formed to nab the accused.

The team reviewed footage from over 350 CCTV cameras across the area.

The breakthrough came when the accused was identified in a CCTV footage from a locality in Pant Nagar in Ghatkopar (East) at 5.02 pm, riding a motorcycle with a woman.

Through further investigation and after tracking the woman’s movements via CCTV camera footage, the police traced her to the Bhatwadi area, where she was seen shopping in a market.

During interrogation, the woman revealed that the accused was her friend.

Further investigation revealed that Lokhande had fled to Shiroli village in the Ambegaon Taluka of Pune District following the robbery.

Acting swiftly, the police teams tracked Lokhande’s movements to MIDC Talegaon, where he was apprehended at a petrol pump while traveling from Chakan. The stolen gold chain was recovered during the arrest of the accused, and will be handed over to the complainant.

This article first appeared on Mid Day