A 66-year-old man was allegedly robbed of gold jewellery worth ₹2.89 lakh after three unidentified men distracted him near the Vadgaon Anand bypass on the Pune-Nashik Highway in Pune district, according to a complaint registered with Alephata police.
The incident took place at around 11am on Sunday, November 1, near the highway in the Vadgaon Anand area of Junnar taluka. The complainant, Rajkumar Baburao Dhimte of Chandoli Budruk in Ambegaon taluka, told police that he was standing by the roadside when the three men approached him and began speaking to him.
According to the police account cited in the complaint, the men gained Dhimte’s confidence while engaging him in conversation and then removed the jewellery he was wearing through sleight of hand. The stolen items included a gold chain weighing about two-and-a-quarter tolas with an Om pendant, a brown-shaped gold ring and a rectangular gold ring with three lines.
The total value of the jewellery was estimated at ₹2.89 lakh. After taking the ornaments, the suspects allegedly placed a white packet containing stones in Dhimte’s hand and escaped towards Pune on a motorcycle.
The complainant told police that the suspects had taken precautions to prevent the motorcycle’s registration number from being seen. Their descriptions recorded in the report state that one man was wearing a black shirt and jacket, another a white shirt and dark bluish jacket, and the third a parrot-green shirt.
Alephata police have registered a case against three unidentified persons. The incident has raised concern in the Vadgaon Anand area about roadside thefts in which victims are allegedly distracted through conversation before their valuables are taken. The Pune-Nashik Highway passes through settlements and roadside activity zones, where pedestrians, local residents and travellers frequently stop near the carriageway.
Police Inspector Vishwas Jadhav and Assistant Police Inspector Baliram Ghante are supervising the investigation. Police personnel Janardan Salunkhe and constable Kokane are conducting further inquiries into the case.
