MUMBAI: Next time when a young girl
asks for a lift and that, too, in a desolate stretch, think twice—maybe,
she is actually out to lure you and then rob you of your
valuables.
The crime branch recently arrested a 23-year-old
girl—reportedly the key member of the gang—and her two accomplices
who robbed 11 people this way. While the accused has been identified as Renu
Jatashankar Shukla alias Priya (23), her associates are Md Anis Shaikh (21) and
Altaf Hussain Shaikh (21).
The plan used to be Renu would ask for
lift from motorists, mainly those driving highend cars or riding motorcycles.
"Soon, she would get into a conversation with the victim and offer him 'sexual
pleasures'. They would check into a lodge or a hotel and as the man would go to
the bathroom, she would vanish with his valuables," said JCP (crime) Rakesh
Maria.
The three were arrested during a raid by crime branch Unit 5,
led by inspector D K Rupwate, who got a tip-off that they were staying at Bell
Bazaar in Kurla. During interrogations, the arrested confessed to the crime and
revealed that their latest victim was a businessman at Aarey Colony in Goregaon.
Altaf used to deal in scrap in Nasik when he met Anis who used to
steal scrap. "In Nasik, the two have 10 cases of chain-snatching and robbery
against them. They met Renu at a beer bar last year, when they had come to the
city," said Maria.