FASTag helps Mumbai police crack highway robbery case; 6 held

Thane: The FASTag system of electronic toll collection helped Navi Mumbai police arrest six persons allegedly involved in a highway robbery.

Police started the probe following the complaint of robbery worth Rs 2.17 lakh on Mumbai-Pune highway, an official said on Wednesday.

The incident took place in Panvel area of the highway on January 26 when the accused travelling in a white car intercepted another car, Panvel taluka police station’s senior inspector Anil Patil said.

The accused allegedly robbed the other car occupants of valuables worth Rs 2.17 lakh and fled in their car, he said.

A police probe team checked the CCTV footage of a check post located nearby and identified the white car in which the accused travelled.

The police also got details of the car and its owner by checking the FASTag system of electronic toll collection, the official said.

The car had disappeared while going towards Satara. The police kept a watch and when the car returned and was on way to Mumbai on January 27, they intercepted it at a check post near Khalapur, the official said.

After confirming details of the car owner, the police zeroed in on the six accused involved in the robbery and arrested them on Monday, he said.

The accused have been identified as Raju Pukle (55), Pramod Kokre (28), Mayappa Valkunde (24), Kiran Sargar (28), Ashok Patil (23) and Sandeep Kokre (23), he said.

Efforts were on to recover the booty, the official said.

PTI with superficial editing by our desk