Police in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, have arrested three individuals in connection with the robbery of Rs 29.65 lakh from a scrap trader on the night of June 11 in the Pandhrinath area.
The crime was orchestrated by Chandrashekhar Mukati, who works in the same industry and is alleged to have directed his two associates, Amar and Praveen Bhandari, to carry out the robbery.
Satish Patel, incharge of the Pandhrinath police station, stated that two men arrived on a two-wheeler around 8:30 pm, snatched a bag containing money from the businessman, and escaped. The victim attempted to pursue them but was unsuccessful.
“Following the incident, a total of eight police teams were formed to trace and arrest the accused. After a coordinated investigation, the teams identified the suspects and arrested three people. One of them, Chandrashekhar Mukati, works for another scrap trader and he is the mastermind. He hatched a conspiracy with Praveen and Amar to execute the robbery,” Patel said.
According to Patel, Mukati gave a payment to the complainant, Mukul Agarwal, before alerting his accomplices to monitor his movements. Agarwal had collected payments from various locations, and the accused took advantage of this to snatch the bag.
During questioning, Mukati revealed that he had incurred losses in cryptocurrency investments and was in debt, prompting him to plan the robbery to recover the money.
Police recovered Rs 22.60 lakh in cash along with a car and jewellery bought with the stolen funds from the accused.
Complainant and scrap trader Rakesh Goyal described the incident: “My nephew, Mukul Agarwal, was returning after collecting money from some traders, other people in the market, and my acquaintances. Some unidentified persons had been following him. They had been trailing him ever since he collected the first payment. The total amount he was carrying was Rs 29.65 lakh. As soon as they got an opportunity, they snatched the bag containing the cash and fled from the spot. Mukul works with me and handles collection-related work.”
Goyal reported the crime promptly to the police and lodged an FIR.
He added, “One of the arrested accused is Chandrashekhar Mukati, whom I know personally. He was the one who made the first payment to Mukul. Aluminium scrap from my business is supplied to a factory, and Mukati works as an agent for that factory.”
Goyal expressed satisfaction with the police for their swift action in resolving the case and recovering a significant portion of the stolen money.