This story is from December 6, 2019

Pune: Trio rob finance firm of Rs 1 crore gold at gunpoint

Two men carrying revolvers entered the office of a leading finance and investment company at Kharadi bypass, rolled down its shutter and robbed gold bars and ornaments worth Rs 1 crore at gunpoint, along with their accomplice already seated inside, around 10.40am on Thursday.
Pune: Trio rob finance firm of Rs 1 crore gold at gunpoint
Video grab of two of the suspects.
PUNE: Two men carrying revolvers entered the office of a leading finance and investment company at Kharadi bypass, rolled down its shutter and robbed gold bars and ornaments worth Rs 1 crore at gunpoint, along with their accomplice already seated inside, around 10.40am on Thursday.
The trio then made a quick exit by rolling up the shutter and pulling it down again from outside, trapping the employees inside.

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The entire incident happened within a few minutes at the India Infoline Finance Limited (IIFL) and comes close on the heels of a similar robbery at a jewellery shop on Paud Road on November 24.
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Assistant inspector Appasaheb Tapre of the Chandannagar police told TOI, “The IIFL’s local office has five employees, of which only three were present when the robbery occurred. Of these three, gold appraisers Manisha Mohan Nair (29) and Bhagwan Chaudhari had opened the office around 9.30am. The third employee, Kavita Kondhalkar, arrived around 9.40am.”
Nair, a resident of Nagpur chawl on Airport Road, said she and Chaudhari opened the office safe room around 10.30am for issuing change against a Rs2,000 currency note to their landlady. “Around 10.40am, a man entered the office and started inquiring with Kondhalkar about a gold loan scheme. He sat on a bench nearby after Kondhalkar asked him to enter his name in a register,” the FIR lodged by Nair stated.

The FIR stated that moments later, two more men carrying revolvers entered the office. “One of them pointed the weapon at Kondhalkar while the other man rolled down the shutter from inside. The duo, along with the man sitting on the bench, then proceeded towards the safe room where Nair and Chaudhari were working,” the FIR stated.
The duo threatened Nair and Chaudhari at gunpoint before forcing them to open a locker in the safe room. “The suspects collected 120 postal envelopes containing gold ornaments (given as collateral by customers for securing loans) and put them in their bag,” the FIR stated, adding that the trio then pulled up the shutter and rolled it down again from outside while leaving.
Senior inspector Shankar Khatke of the Chandannagar police, who inspected the scene of the crime, told TOI, “We are going through the CCTV footage retrieved from the office as well as some adjoining establishments. The possibility of the three suspects linked with similar armed robberies in Nashik, Nalasopara, Nagpur and Pune cannot be ruled out. We are showing the photographs of the suspects involved in these robberies to the witnesses.”
Khatke said, “A spot inspection has revealed that the alarm system in the office was defunct. The trio may have conducted a recce as they appeared familiar with the security lapses at the office. The offices of two other finance companies are also located nearby.”
The Chandannagar police and the crime branch of the Pune police have launched parallel investigations into the case. The police have recorded statements of the witnesses and have also spoken to IIFL branch manager Ruchi Jaiswal and Rahul Manjare, one of the gold appraisers, who were on leave on Thursday.
Avinash Doddi, who works with the Linen King outlet located above the IIFL office, told TOI, “A visibly frightened Chaudhari rushed to our shop and narrated the entire incident, after which we went to the IIFL office. The staffers were too shaken to speak about the incident.”
Sunil Shinde, a welding worker at an adjacent shop, said, “I was busy at work when I heard a lot of commotion and screams from the IIFL office around 11am. I rushed to the office, along with a few others, and saw the panicked staffers narrating the incident to others.”
Senior IIFL officials had reached the spot for an audit of the robbed gold ornaments. TOI tried speaking to them but they refused to comment. An offence has been registered under sections 392 (armed robbery), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and the relevant sections of the Indian Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act.
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About the Author
Asseem Shaikh

Asseem Shaikh is a special correspondent at The Times of India, Pune. He holds a PG degree in Journalism and Communication and Human Rights, and has been a journalist for about 20 years now. He covers the crime and legal beats with special focus on ‘syndicated’ crime, cyber crime, terrorism, custodial deaths, fake encounters and human rights violations. Has made good use of the Right to Information Act for journalistic purposes. He loves to travel.

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