Thane, Oct 21 (PTI) With the arrest of five persons, including three hardened criminals, the police on Thursday claimed to have cracked a case of attack on a man and his female friend earlier this month at Bhiwandi town in Maharashtra"s Thane district. The incident had occurred in the wee hours of October 12, and the group of accused had robbed the victims of their belongings, a police official said. Talking to reporters, DCP (zone 2) Bhiwandi, Yogesh Chavan, said victim Darshil Gudka (27), a resident of Thane city, was proceeding with his female friend on the Pipeline Road in a car, when three of the accused going on a two-wheeler waylaid them. "The accused forced open the door of the car and snatched the mobile phones from both of them apart from a gold ring, collectively worth Rs 83,000. When the victims protested, the accused attacked them with wooden logs and later fled from the spot, taking advantage of darkness. The injured were admitted to a hospital at Thane city," he said. Following the incident, an offence under IPC sections 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 341 (wrongful restraint), 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 34 (common intention) was registered at Kongaon police station under Bhiwandi zone. "The police had formed a couple of teams to investigate the crime and traced all the accused involved in the crime. Three of them are notorious criminals from Kalyan," the official said. The accused trio was identified as Abdul Kadir Abrar Shaikh (24), Umar Abdul Raheman Mansuri, and Nihal Nazir Shaikh (23). Two others, who purchased the stolen booty from them, were also arrested. They were identified as Akash Rajesh Kandare (24), a driver from Kalyan, and Salman alias Najeeb Masjid Shaikh (27), from Mumbra, police said. The stolen mobiles and other valuables were recovered from them, including the vehicle that was used in the crime, the official said. "Before this,14 offences were registered against the three accused involved in the attack," he said. PTI COR NP NP