Police bust robbery gang with big links

Arms seized from the group indicate it was no small fry, say police officials.

The MRA police are looking for the fifth member of a robbery gang suspected to have links with bigger, more organised groups. Four members were arrested on Friday near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) while they were allegedly on their way to Lonavala to attempt a dacoity.

“We recovered a country-made revolver, three live cartridges and mobile phones, an iron machete, a toy pistol, nylon rope and a hammer,” police inspector and investigating officer Ravindra Doiphode said.

The police busted the gang while acting on a tip-off and recovered a black bag with arms from the four. The police said Shashikant Raju Shetty, 26, Shamshuddin Bashir Ahmed Shaikh, 36, Sadashiv Ramul Bhima, 28 and Yusuf Rukmuddin Qureshi, 25 had cases registered against them in Bandra, Sion, Antop Hill and Dharavi areas.

Interestingly, the police found out that the recovered cartridges were factory-made and bought from a Pune shop.

“This suggests that this is not an amateur group. It has links with larger gangs,” Doiphade said.