Nagpur: In a midnight drama, a gang of seven armed dacoits took the newly-married couple hostage in their own house and looted cash and jewellery worth Rs 81,000. The dreadful incident took place at Shivangaon Punarwasan Colony in Chinchbhavan under the jurisdiction of Beltarodi police station in the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.
This is the second incident of dacoity within a fortnight in the city. Earlier, an elderly woman was looted by dacoits in Dabha area under the jurisdiction of Gittikhadan police station.
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21 April 2025
Cops have mounted a man-hunt after registering a case of dacoity. According to police, a resident of Plot No. 83, Shivangaon Punarwasan Colony, Chinchbhuvan, Mangesh Devrao Wandre (34), live with wife. The armed gang probably stormed Wandre’s house after grilling a hole in the kitchen door. Mangesh and his wife Sneha, who married in August this year, were in the bedroom. The dacoits picked Mangesh and threatened him with sharp-edged weapons and a screwdriver. After taking the couple hostage, the gang started robbing them. Sneha told police that she was frightened after seeing the armed dacoits in the midnight and started pleading with them for safety of life. One of the gang members assured them that they would not harm them and asked for Rs 6 lakh cash, she said. She told the gang that they did not have such huge cash.
“Five of them snatched our gold rings, chain and my mangalsutra and ransacked the almirah in search of valuables,” said Sneha. “They pocketed Rs 32,000 cash from the almirah and again asked for more money,” added Sneha. After searching the house for around 45 minutes and the goons walked away. Their faces were covered with masks and some of them were wearing ‘Bermuda’ (shorts), recalled Sneha.
After the gang of robbers left, the couple narrated the incident to neighbours who promptly alerted the police. Staff of Beltarodi police station rushed to the spot. After getting first hand information, Police Inspector Ravindra Naikwar directed police teams to conduct searches in the area. One of the police parties noticed a bike-borne man on the turning of Chinchbhavan road. When a police vehicle drove towards the bike, he hurried up and sped away from the spot. The police chased the motorcycle up to Rajiv Nagar on Wardha road where the biker hit the road divider. However, before the police could reach the spot, the biker managed to escape from the spot.
A case under Section 395 of the IPC was registered by Beltarodi police. Addl CP (Crime) Sunil Fulari, DCP (Detection) Chinmay Pandit and DCP (Zone IV ) Nurool Hasan visited the crime spot. The cops are exploring various angles and suspecting the role of the gang which had robbed an elderly woman in Dabha area on December 3.
According to police, two houses were targeted by the dacoits in the wee hours. In the first attempt, the gang sneaked into the locked house of Krishna Hiwarale after breaking open the latch of the front door. Hiwarale is a jawan with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and stationed in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) with family. The intruders ransacked the entire house and walked away empty handed at around 3 pm. Soon thereafter, the gang targeted the neighbouring house of Mangesh Wandre.
