Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar has transferred the senior inspector of Market Yard police station after an alleged Rs 35 lakh robbery was recorded as a missing-property complaint, with investigators later recovering Rs 25 lakh from two suspects.
The incident took place on October 9 in the Market Yard area and came to light during an investigation into a separate attempted robbery. According to the report, two men arrested by Swargate police allegedly confessed to targeting an Angadia carrying the cash. Their disclosure led investigators back to an earlier complaint made by the businessman involved.
The businessman had reportedly visited Market Yard police station several times to report that the cash carrier had been robbed. Instead of registering the matter as a robbery, station staff recorded it as missing property. Commissioner Kumar described the handling of the complaint as alleged suppression of crime and ordered administrative action against the station’s senior inspector.
Police recovered Rs 25 lakh from the suspects, while the remaining Rs 10 lakh has not yet been accounted for, according to the report. The recovery followed questioning in connection with a September 23 attempted robbery involving a Market Yard shopkeeper who was carrying Rs 4 lakh to his home.
The September incident was allegedly foiled after a young woman intervened when the suspects tried to rob the shopkeeper. The subsequent investigation and questioning of the two arrested men reportedly produced information about the earlier October robbery.
The case has brought scrutiny to how complaints are classified and registered at police stations. Recording a robbery as missing property can affect the initial investigation, the formal crime record and the deployment of investigative resources. In this case, the discrepancy came under attention only after suspects in another case allegedly linked themselves to the earlier incident.
The Pune police commissioner’s transfer order is an administrative response to the handling of the complaint, while the criminal investigation into the alleged robbery remains ongoing. Police have so far recovered Rs 25 lakh of the reported Rs 35 lakh loss, and the remaining amount is yet to be traced.
