Mumbai, March 26: The Navi Mumbai on Saturday arrested a couple for robbing commuters on the Thane-Belapur highway. Police officials said that the accused couple allegedly pretended to be in distress and then rob commuters of four-wheelers at night. The incident of robbery used to take place on the Thane-Belapur highway.

The accused have been identified as Sagar Patil (21) and Arpita Pawar (20), reports the Hindustan Times. Speaking about the couple's modus operandi, a police officer said that the husband-wife duo used to roam on a scooter and stop vehicles passing by. Seeing the woman, the vehicles would stop presuming the situation to be an emergency. Following this, the couple used to rob the vehicle's occupants. Mumbai Shocker: Man Randomly Dials Numbers, Sends Obscene Videos and Messages on WhatsApp to Over 100 Women; Arrested.

An officer privy to the case said that the accused couple used to rob the car's occupants of cash and mobile phones by threatening them with a molestation case against the car's driver. The incident came to light on March 21 when Tushar Dyaneshwar Khebde, a transporter from Kharghar lodged a complaint against the couple.

In his complaint with APMC police, Khebde said that the accused allegedly robbed him of Rs 10,000. "While investigating, we found information that a couple used to loiter at night in a scooter with no number plate on the highways and accordingly our team started searching for them," Tanvir Shaikh, senior police inspector of APMC police station said. Mumbai Police Extends Preventive Orders For City Till April 8, Check Full List of Prohibitions and Exemptions.

Post this, the police laid a trap and nabbed the couple. The officer said that the woman accused would even accuse the person of molesting her. The duo even pelted stones at a few vehicles, Shaikh said. Cops learned that after looting the commuters, the couple used to splurge money on cigarettes and alcohol. Once out of money, the couple used to then target another person.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2023 03:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).