2 fire at businessman with airgun in Panvel; cops look for clues on CCTV

Two men opened fire with a pellet airgun at a businessman’s car in an attempt to rob him in Panvel, on Thursday night. No one was injured in the incident.

According to the Panvel police, the incident took place at around 8pm in Pushpak Nagar area. The complainant Sunil Gadekar, 36, a Panvel resident, who owns a shipping and logistics firm in Kamothe, was heading to look at a plot.

He stopped his car in the Pushpak Nagar area to attend a call from his friend. In the meantime, two men on a bike stopped next to his car.

“The pillion-rider walked up to him and aimed a gun at him. The window on the driver’s side of the vehicle was partially down when the accused told him to hand over his money. When the man threatened to shoot him, Gadekar challenged him to fire,” said an officer from Panvel police station.

The man then stepped back a few paces and shot at the backseat window. The windowpane was damaged in the firing, but Gadekar was unhurt.

However, scared with the gunshot, Gadekar started his car in a bid to flee from the spot. The shooter then attempted to snatch the car key, during which, the remote control attached to the keys broke. Gadekar then tried running from there, said police.

The bikers followed Gadekar for a few metres but abandoned the chase when he entered the service lane of the highway. Officer said the attempted robbery seemed to be random as the men may have been on the lookout for targets along the stretch.

“Based on the preliminary investigation, it appears the accused had initially planned to scare him into paying by brandishing the airgun. We have found broken pellets of airgun from inside the car. We have made a sketch of the accused based on the complainant’s description and are also checking the CCTV footage for leads,” said Rahul Sonawane, assistant inspector at Panvel city police station.

The accused who shot at Gadekar had worn a face mask and donned a cap. The Panvel police have registered a case of attempted armed robbery against the unidentified persons.