35-year-old held for robbing businesswoman at gunpoint in Navi Mumbai

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Rabale police have arrested a 35-year-old man for allegedly robbing a businesswoman from Navi Mumbai of Rs 30,000 and other valuables, an officer told PTI on Sunday.

The accused went to the woman's house at Ghansoli in Navi Mumbai, where he earlier worked as a cook and driver, on Wednesday night and forced her at gunpoint to transfer Rs 30,000 to his account. He also took away her gold chain weighing 15 gm, senior inspector Sanjeev Dhumal of Rabale police station said.

When the woman raised an alarm, the accused fled from the spot, he added.

The woman, who runs a clothing business, lodged a complaint, based on which the Rabale police registered a first information report (FIR) under section 309 (4) (robbery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and initiated a probe.

After working on several leads, including the CCTV footage, intelligence and technical inputs, the probe team tracked down the accused to Ramchandra Nagar in Thane, from where he was picked up late on Friday night, the officer said.

The accused was placed under arrest in the early hours of Saturday. During his interrogation, it came to light that a case was earlier registered against the accused with the Dombivili railway police in 2015, the officer added.

The police recovered gold chains weighing a total of 32 gm and collectively valued at Rs 1.6 lakh from his possession, he said.

This is the second incident of crime against women in Rabale in two days. On Friday, the police said that a case was registered against a man for allegedly stalking and verbally abusing a 14-year-old girl.

The girl was on her way to school in Rabale for a flag hoisting ceremony on Thursday morning when the accused accosted her in his car, an officer said.

The accused asked the girl to get into the vehicle, and when she refused, he verbally abused her. The girl picked up a stone to hurl at the man, following which he fled, he said.

A case was registered under sections 78 (stalking) and 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the official said.

(With PTI inputs)