Ex-employee tipped off gang that robbed Nagpur wine shop owner

Nagpur: Police have cracked the case of the assault and robbery of the owner of Johri Wine Shop, located at Coffee House Chowk in Dharampeth. The tip-off for the robbery was given by a former employee of the wine shop. The Crime Branch's Anti-Burglary Squad has taken nine accused into custody, including the former employee. The arrested accused are Aniket Ramesh Patel (25) of Surendragarh, Mohammad Bilal Khwaja (29) of Seminary Hills, Dhananjay Tarachand Awate (24), Mohammad Nadeem Mohammad Iqbal (23), Parvez Pyare Khan (31), Awesh Latif Khan (21) of Ekta Colony, Yashodhara, Mohammad Ruman Mohammad Irfan Shaikh (20) of Yadav Nagar, Yashodhara, and two minors.

On the night of Thursday, September 24, wine shop owner Sagar Johri was attacked and robbed on Canal Road, just a short distance from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's private residence. The attackers pelted stones and smashed Johri's car, then fled with a bag containing cash of 4.30 lakh rupees and a laptop. The robbery, occurring close to the Chief Minister's residence, caused alarm within the police department. The incident was also captured on CCTV, and footage led police to accused Parvez Khan, who owned the car used in the crime, having bought it from an auto dealer. Questioning Parvez helped police solve the case.

Aniket Patel had previously worked at Johri Wine Shop and had left the job three months earlier. He knew that heavy liquor sales occurred on the day before the shop's designated closing day, meaning shop owner Sagar Johri would be carrying a large amount of cash. Between 10:45 pm and 11 pm, Sagar would leave for home by car with the money. Aniket passed the tip about the robbery to his associate Bilal, who then planned it with Parvez and other accomplices. For two to three days, the accused kept watch on the wine shop, and after learning Sagar Johri's route and timing, they decided to carry out the robbery.

As planned, on Thursday night the accused waited for Sagar Johri to leave the wine shop, then followed his car and attacked and robbed him on Canal Road. After the robbery, they went to Girad, where they discarded the laptop and divided the cash before returning. The operation was carried out under the guidance of DCP Deepak Agrawal and ACP Vaibhav Jadhav, by PI Dilip Chandan, Prashant Thaware, API Nitin Chulpar, Head Constable Roshan Tiwari and their team.