PUNE: The Chakan police have arrested two men and detained a minor for allegedly assaulting and robbing labourers working with various companies near the industrial town, around 35km from here.Police said they detected five recent robberies and a murder following the arrest of Adinath Raut (23) and Hritik Gaikwad (23), both from Khed taluka , on Monday.One of their minor accomplices has been detained, while another is on the run.“We found two motorcycles, four cellphone handsets and cash, collectively worth Rs1.25 lakh, on Rauth, Gaikwad and the minor boy,” Chakan police senior inspector Sunil Pawar told TOI on Thursday. The officer said the gang was targeting labourers walking at night on the road between Ambethan and Shinde Vasuli near Chakan. Probe revealed that one of the labourers assaulted by the duo had succumbed to his injuries earlier in August.On October 6, labourer Nishkalang Dang (18) and his friend, Kirant Baug, were walking along the road in Ambethan when four men on two motorcycles had assaulted them with sharp weapons and robbed Rs7,000 from them.“While probing the case, sub-inspector Sanjay Nilpatrewar got a tip-off about the involvement of a gang from Khed in the crime,” Pawar said. “During questioning, the trio admitted to their involvement in five robberies on the Ambethan-Shinde Vasuli road recently. The suspects used to target the labourers while walking back to home or towards the industrial units at night. They would attack the labourers with sharp weapons before robbing them,” the officer added.On July 29, one Suyash Gund (29) of Koregaon Bhima was walking towards his friend’s house in Chakan. Three men had intercepted him near Chakan and snatched his cellphone.“Gund tried to resist the three from robbing his cash. One of them stabbed Gund in his stomach and fled the spot. He succumbed to his injuries on August 5,” Pawar said.During questioning, the suspects admitted to their involvement in the July 29 crime as well. “They were booked under section 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code,” he added.Two gang members, nabbed by the Chakan police during nakabandi operations on Sunday, admitted to their involvement in robbing people by offering them lift in their car. Following the duo’s admission, police detected three recent cases of robberies in which the arrested men were involved. Incidentally, both were from Khed.Since 2016, Chakan has become a hotbed of crime. The Pune rural police attribute the trend to the exponential increase in the population in the past decade with the Chakan industrial estate of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation attracting thousands of workers from various states.The 2011census had put Chakan’s population at about 42,000. A little over six years since then, the number is nearing 3 lakh. Police records reveal that 2016 saw 1,200 criminal cases and the number soared to 1,328 the following year.

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