Driver of accountant among 3 held for cooking up robbery story

The driver of an accountant of a famous sweet shop in the city has been arrested for allegedly cooking up a story that he was robbed of Rs 12 lakh cash given to him for delivery in suburban Kandivali, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, Pradip Shantaram Sangle (41), was arrested last Friday along with his two friends, identified as Pramod Bagwe (35) and Sumit Dighe (41), an official said.

"Sangle works for Mitesh Chandulal Shah, who is an accountant with M M Mithaiwala, a famous sweet shop. Last Thursday, Shah left the office and asked the driver to drop him at a hall in Kandivali, where he planned to attend the meeting," investigation officer Sagar Bhokre of Kandivali police station said.

"Shah asked Sangle to drop a bag containing around Rs 12 lakh cash at his residence and return to the hall to pick him up. However, when Shah returned to his car after the meeting, Sangle told him that he was robbed of the bag by someone," he added.

As Shah suspected the driver, he lodged a complaint with Kandivali police station.

"While checking Sangle's call detail records, police found out that after dropping Shah at the hall, Sangle was in constant touch with Bagwe and Dighe," Bhokre said.

After arresting Sangle, police also nabbed Bagwe and Dighe from Dahisar checkpost.

"The entire cash were recovered them. During their interrogation, the trio confessed to their crime," the official said, adding that they were booked under IPC section 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant).

A local court has remanded them in judicial custody.