Bhoiwada armed robbery case: Accused reveals he recced Hind Mata

Mohammed Rafiq Sayyed, the main accused in the Bhoiwada armed robbery case,  has revealed that he and his two accomplices did recce of Hind Mata wholesale cloth market at Parel for two hours before approaching the victim, a wholesale cloth merchant, who was counting the cash.

But their luck ran out when the victim, despite being assaulted  with a knife, succeeded in nabbing him with the help of his nephew, two employees and passers-by. However, Sayyed’s two accomplices managed to escape with Rs70,000 booty.

According to the police, the incident took place at around 9.30pm on September 16 at Dev Narayan Synthetic, a wholesale cloth shop in Parel. Shop owner Saitansingh Chundawat (33), his nephew-Suraj and two servants were in the shop when three persons,  including Sayyed, entred the shop as customers.

Before Chundawat could speak, one of them fished out a revolver and asked them to hand over the cash. The owner found Rs70,000 cash from his other shop. While handing over the cash, Chundawat managed to nab Sayyed. The robber in fit of anger stabbed him with a knife and later fired one round from his revolver in the air to scare the victim.

Despite stab injuries on his left hand palm, the shop owner succeeded in catching Sayyed. One hearing the scream, other shopkeepers and passers-by rushed to Chudawat’s shop and thrashed the robber before handling him to the police.

“The police recovered a country-made revolver and a knife from Sayyed (38), a resident of Malegaon,” said senior inspector Vikram Patil of the  Bhoiwada police station.

He said the police team nabbed his accomplice Sayyed Safiq Chand from Malegaon on September 17.