Pune: Rs 29.2 Lakh ‘Robbery’ in Kondhwa Turns Out to Be Fake, Employee and Associate Arrested
Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Kondhwa, 29th August 2026: Kondhwa police have arrested two men for allegedly misappropriating ₹29.20 lakh belonging to a steel trader and fabricating a robbery story to conceal the crime. Police said the case was solved within two hours and cash and mobile phones collectively valued at ₹29.50 lakh were recovered.
The incident occurred at around 6.56 pm on August 27. According to police, Shakib Ayub Momin, 27, an employee of a steel trader from Mohammadwadi, had been entrusted with ₹29.20 lakh collected from retail steel sales during the preceding two months.
Momin subsequently called the trader and claimed that an unidentified man had assaulted him on NIBM Road before fleeing with the bag of cash and his mobile phone. The trader then took Momin to Kondhwa police station and reported the alleged robbery near Samar Society on NIBM Road.
Senior Police Inspector Santosh Khetmalas immediately directed the investigation team to examine the circumstances surrounding the alleged crime.
Inspector Khetmalas said the investigators examined CCTV footage from the area and questioned Momin in detail after noticing inconsistencies in his account. During questioning, Momin allegedly admitted that he had handed the money to his associate, Suresh Pujari, and invented the robbery story to mislead the trader and police.
Police traced Pujari to his residence near Ramtekdi in Ramnagar, Hadapsar. The stolen cash was allegedly found in a bag at his house.
“CCTV footage and a detailed examination of the employee’s account helped investigators establish that the robbery had been staged. The entire amount was recovered and both accused were arrested,” Inspector Khetmalas said.
Police recovered ₹29.20 lakh in cash and two mobile phones valued at ₹30,000, taking the total value of the seized property to ₹29.50 lakh.
Momin, a resident of Lane No. 14-A in Sayyad Nagar, Hadapsar, and Pujari, 30, a resident of Ramtekdi-Ramnagar, Hadapsar, were arrested in connection with Kondhwa police station Crime Register No. 663/2026. Further investigation is underway under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Darade, Additional Commissioner of Police for the Eastern Region Manoj Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone V, Rajlakshmi Shivankar, and Wanwadi Division Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramdas Ingole.
The investigation was supervised by Senior Police Inspector Santosh Khetmalas, Police Inspector (Crime) Prashant Mandale and Police Inspector (Crime) Santosh Chaudhari.
The investigating team comprised Police Sub-Inspectors Ravindra Gavade and Sagar Pawar; police personnel Ravindra Chippa and Amol Hirve, Keshav Hirve, Amit Suryavanshi, Rahul Rasane, Riyaz Patel, Ravi Jadhav, Pushpendra Chavan, Santosh Bansode, Suraj Shukla, Prashant Khade, Rashid Sheikh, Shahid Rajput, Shelar and Omkar Shete.
