Men accuse pedestrians of misbehaviour,rob them

The NM Joshi Marg police have arrested two men for robbing pedestrians by first accusing them of misbehaving in public and then fleeing with their valuables. The prime accused Kiran Ramniklal Shah (32) has over 40 crimes registered against him in several police stations,while his accomplice Naved Khan (26) is wanted in over 10 cases.

“In January,Vishal Ramesh Bayola,an accountant with a firm in Lower Parel was taking a stroll with his colleague after lunch when suddenly two men approached him and accused him of having pushed a woman. When Bayola denied to have done such a thing,one of the men told him that the woman had given his description to them. “The accused then told Bayola to hand over his cell phone and gold chain so that they can show it to the woman and confirm if it was him. Bayola handed over his valuables after which the accused fled,” said Assistant Police Inspector Pramod Chauhan from the N M Joshi police station.

After a complaint was registered with the police,they tracked Bayola’s cell phone to Shah and found that he had been arrested in similar cases earlier. “We arrested Shah after tracking Bayola’s cell phone and on his tip-off nabbed Khan too. Shah has over 40 cases registered against him at Ghatkopar,Nehrunagar,Goregaon,Vakola,Pantnagar,Malwani,N M Joshi and Kurla police stations. Khan who has been arrested for the first time is also wanted in cases registered at Kandivli,Malad and Ghatkopar police stations,” said Chauhan.

The police said that the modus operandi of the accused was to suddenly accuse pedestrians of misbehaving and catch them unaware in public.