A lift from strangers costs executive Rs 42,000

26/11/2017

PUNE: When 38-year-old Amitkumar Tejbirsingh Tyagi flagged down a car for a lift to Mumbai, he expected a free ride back home. Unfortunately, just like lunches, there are hardly ever any free rides. Tyagi, a resident of Kharghar in Navi Mumbai, ended up paying for the ride with his laptop, smartphone and Rs 22,200, most of which he was forced to withdraw from an ATM after being threatened with a knife. Overall, he was robbed of valuables and cash amounting to Rs 42,000.

The incident took place between Pune Railway Station and JSPM College Road at Tathawade between 1 am and 2.30am on Friday. Tyagi, who is the assistant manager in a private electrical firm in Mumbai, only managed to escape the clutches of the robbers when they stopped the car for the second time and asked him to get more cash from an ATM in Tathawade.

The incident came to light after Tyagi alerted the city police control room. To make the call he had to borrow a cellphone from an ATM guard. Tyagi lodged an FIR with the Wakad police, but since he had boarded the car from near the Pune railway station, the case was transferred to the Bund Garden police.

In his complaint, Tyagi said that two of the three suspects threatened him with a knife and robbed him of Rs 2,200. One of them took Tyagi to an ATM and asked him to withdraw Rs 20,000 and forced him to reveal the PIN. They also took his phone, laptop, PAN card, identity card, Axis Bank card, Aadhaar card and a copy of his driving licence. He was forced to sit in a car again, which then drove on the Pune-Bengaluru Highway and stopped at another ATM in Tathawade. Tyagi was asked to withdraw more cash, but he ran towards the ATM guard. The suspects then sped away.

Shridhar Jadhav, the senior inspector of Wakad police, said, "After dropping his sister and relatives at Lohegaon airport on November 23, Tyagi took a cab to the Pune station. There, he took a lift in a white car that was purportedly going to Mumbai."

"Tyagi has described the three suspects who talked in Hindi and Marathi. He was able to note a part of the vehicle registration number," Bund Garden police assistant inspector Satish Pawar said. "We are checking CCTV footage and working on clues," he added. Tyagi's complaint was registered under Sections 392 (robbery) and 34 (common intention) of IPC. The Pune crime branch is conducting a parallel probe.