Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad crime branch on Saturday arrested a criminal on the police records who stole the victim’s gold jewellery by posing as police.A crime branch team led by senior police inspector Arvind Pawar detected 2 cases registered with the Hinjewadi and Dehu Road police.The police identified the accused as Mohammed Ali (40), of Ambivali in Thane district.On Feb 7, a 70-year-old retired resident from Wakad lodged a complaint with the Hinjewadi police, stating that two men forced him to stop his motorcycle when he was returning home from a temple. They claimed that they were policemen and told him not to wear gold jewellery openly, as cases of theft increased. They told the man to remove his gold ring and chain, collectively worth Rs 2.23 lakh. They covered it in paper and returned it to the man. The duo, however, diverted the man’s attention and exchanged the jewellery with stones.“Our team checked over 120 CCTV footage and traced the accused in Ambivali,” Pawar said.He said that the police team reached Ambivali and took Ali into custody on a tip-off received by police constable Vikram Kudal. Ali’s relatives tried to prevent the police team from taking Ali into custody, but the police brought him to Pimpri Chinchwad. “He admitted his involvement in one more case registered with the Dehu Road police in July last year, in which jewellery worth Rs1.75 lakh was robbed,” he said.Pawar said that Ali has several cases registered against him in different states. “Our investigations are on,” Pawar said.
