Mumbai: The Vakola junction in Mumbai is fast emerging as the chosen spot for robbers in the city, with two major highway robberies, to the tune of Rs 5 crore, taking place in less than 10 days.
Police officials attribute this to the defunct CCTV camera at the junction -- a fact that robbers seem to be aware of.
On May 2, diamonds worth Rs 2.90 crore were stolen from Rakesh Sharma, who was on his way to Kalbadevi. Eight days later, Tapan Kumar Mazi was heading to South Mumbai from the airport, when two bike-borne robbers accosted him at Vakola junction and left with 10 kg gold.
In both cases, the modus operandi was clear -- the robbers followed the victims, in a car in Sharma's case and on a bike in Mazi's, and then forced them to halt at Vakola junction, where they were confronted and made to give up their valuables.
"The robbers seem to be aware that the CCTV is not working at the junction and hence they trail the victims up to that point before confronting them. The CCTV, installed after 26/11, belongs to the traffic department and we can do nothing about it," said a police officer.
Meanwhile, the police are yet to apprehend or even identify the people behind either of the robberies. The victims couldn't give the police any descriptions and the CCTV didn't yield anything.
When contacted, DCP Brijesh Singh refused to comment on the defunct CCTV. "Investigations are on to solve the cases," was all he said.