Man held for kidnap and robbing a Juhu resident

MUMBAI: The Juhu police solved a case of kidnap and robbery with the arrest of a 32-year-old man on June 8. Accused Shivpal Singh and his accomplice Sanjay Singh (wanted in the case) entered the victim Pratik Agarwal’s (28) car at Lotus Petrol pump and threatened him at gun and knifepoint before made to drive towards Bollywood actor Big B’s bungalow and robbed Rs8,500 cash and his bank’s ATM card on June 1.
Agarwal, a medical practitioner, managed to escape from the spot after the accused stepped out of his car to withdraw money from his ATM card. The incident occurred in between 7.30pm and 8pm when Agarwal was driving back home after visiting his grandpa’s house in Malad. “Agarwal escaped when the second accused Sanjay stepped out of his car when Shivpal failed to withdraw money from his bank card,” said an investigator.
An hour later, Agarwal along with his friend approached the police and lodged a complaint. Based on the complaint, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Satyanarayan Choudhary formed two teams comprising of Juhu police senior inspector Abhay Shastry, inspector Pandit Thakare, sub-inspector Shriniwas Chevle tracked Shivpal from P D’mello Road in Masjid.
In the complaint, Agarwal said, “I stopped my car, which I forgot to put auto lock, at the Lotus Petrol pump in Oshiwara. The two accused stepped into my car—one of whom sat to my side while the other on the back seat. One of them pointed gun and the other knife. They threatened me that they are members of an underworld gang. They asked me to drive towards Prateeksha Bungalow.”
On reaching road no 10 where the Bungalow is situated, the accused made Agarwal to stop his car and tied his hand to his back with a nylon string. “After robbing cash from his wallet. Shivpal threatened at knifepoint and asked his debit card pin. Shivpal walked into the ATM which was on the opposite of the road but failed to withdraw money after he attempted three times. He called his accomplice who stepped out of the car to help him. Seeking opportunity, Agarwal managed to loosen his hand and drove away from the spot. The accused failed to withdraw money because Agarwal provided them with wrong ATM pin,” said the investigators.
Shivpal’s arrest helped the police to detect five old cases which he and his accomplice has committed since 2013 with similar modus operandi—two at Juhu police station (including to this case), one each at Amboli, Matunga and Oshiwara police stations. He is in police custody till June 15. Police are searching for his accomplice.