Crime doesn't pay, goes the old adage, and it's certainly true for the trio who robbed a jewellery store in Hadapsar on Sunday ('Trio robs jewellery store at gunpoint, flee'), November 3, mid-day). The robbers made off with ornaments worth Rs 40 lakh, escaping in a stolen car, but barely 30 minutes later, the car caught fire and they were forced to flee yet again.
According to the police, the robbers could not make it far before they were forced to abandon the car, as it caught fire barely 7 km away from the shop they had just looted.
Inspector R N Mohite, in charge of Hadapsar police station, said, "The trio had robbed gold ornaments from the shop in under 10 minutes. Later, they escaped in a car (Maruti Suzuki 800) and headed to Manjari Road.
Within 40 minutes, we traced the car in an isolated area. It was ablaze. Eyewitnesses said the three were in the car and were driving rashly, when the vehicle's wheel got stuck in a pothole, and it caught fire. The robbers got down and ran away. We will arrest them soon."
DCP (Zone IV) Manoj Patil said, "We have got CCTV footage from the shop. One of the robbers is a local, while the other two are from out of town. Our team will soon zero in on them."