Three held for robbing roadside food vendor in Pune

PUNE: The Pune city crime branch on Wednesday arrested three men for allegedly threatening a food handcart operator and robbing him of Rs 4000 on late Saturday night at Maharshinagar near Salisbury Park.
Following a tip off, the police team arrested the suspects identified as Anand alias Vanraj Madhukar Chandane (19), Anand alias Sonya Siddheshwar Dhade (19) and Mahesh alias Bala Milind Chavan (24), all residents of Taljai Pathar, Sahakarnagar.
The handcart operator Milind Rajaram Bhalerao of Maharshinagar had lodged a complaint with the Swargate police station following the robbery. According to Bhalerao’s complaint, the suspects arrived in the area around midnight when he was selling Pav-Bhaji to the customers. The suspects placed order for three Pav Bhaji plates.
There were few customers before them and Bhalerao was serving them. The suspects were perturbed with the delays in serving food to them. The three men then abused Bhalerao and beat him up. Before running away, the trio robbed cash of Rs 4000 from the cash box which was on the handcart.
A police team headed by senior inspector Rajendra Kadam, assistant inspector Vidyulata Chavan, constables Vinayak Pawar, Rahul Ghadge, Amol Pawar, Wilson D’Souza, Sachin Gaikwad, Chetan Gore and Mallikarjun Swami arrested the suspects while patrolling the Gultekdi area on Wednesday.