Mastermind behind robbery at home of Cafe Mysore owner arrested from Delhi

MUMBAI: The Sion police on Monday arrested Premchand Jaiswal, the main accused in the robbery at the home of Cafe Mysore owner Naresh Nayak on May 13, from Delhi. Police said Jaiswal had visited various places in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan before temporarily settling in Delhi. He was using at least 18 SIM cards during this period, changing them frequently to avoid being traced. But one UPI payment he made helped the police nab him.

According to the police, Jaiswal allegedly planned the robbery at Nayak’s home with the help of others including two Mumbai Police constables but did not participate in the heist himself. On May 13, the other accused visited Nayak’s home in a police jeep posing as Mumbai Crime branch officials. They claimed they had information about ₹17 crore being stored in the house that was to be used during the Lok Sabha elections, conducted a search operation, and camped off with ₹70 lakh in cash and four gold coins.

After tracing the jeep used in the crime, the Sion police arrested eight people. They included Babasaheb Bhagwat, 50, a police constable; retired constable Dinkar Salvi, 60; Sagar Redekar, 42, a resident of Lower Parel; Vasant Nayak, 52, a former manager at Cafe Mysore and a resident of Lower Parel; Shyam Gaikwad, 50, a resident of Byculla; Niraj Khandagale, 34, a resident of Govandi; Ajit Apraj, 50, from Goregaon; Hiren Waghela, 40, a resident of Mumbai Central; and Raza Ansari, 50.

“Jaiswal was the one who had formed the gang, and we suspect he took the major share in the robbery. Once an informer for the income tax department, he had posed as an income tax officer and police officer on several occasions and cheated numerous people,” said a police officer.

Jaiswal was brought to Mumbai from Delhi after his arrest on Monday and will be produced in court on Tuesday. Police said they are in the process of invoking the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case.