Police have cracked a highway dacoity case involving Rs 5.5 crore in cash in Palghar district with the arrest of four persons, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The incident in question occurred on March 17 when three employees of a Gujarat-based company were transporting Rs 5.5 crore in cash from Surat to Mumbai in a car, said assistant commissioner of police (crime) Madan Ballal.
At around 9 pm, five unidentified individuals, posing as policemen, intercepted the employees’ car with a van on a highway near Khanivde toll plaza. After a brutal assault, the victims were thrown out of the vehicle at separate locations, while the culprits fled the scene with the cash, he said. Subsequently, an FIR was filed under relevant IPC sections including 395 (dacoity), 363 (kidnapping) and 419 (cheating by personation) at the Mandvi police station.
During investigation, the police arrested four persons, Muruganandan Abhimanyu, Babu Moda Swami, Manikandan Chalaiyya and Balaprabhu Shanmugam, in connection with the incident, said Ballal.
They were remanded to police custody till March 28 by a court in Palghar. Police have recovered a significant portion of the stolen cash amounting to Rs 4,87,50,000, said the ACP.
Preliminary investigations revealed the involvement of one of the arrested suspects, Abhimanyu, in criminal activities, including murder, he said.
