Police officials from the Varda police station in Rajasthan's Dungarpur district have dismantled a criminal gang that targeted late-night commuters by offering them rides and robbing them at knifepoint. Investigators took three suspects into custody and seized a white Eeco van utilized in the crime. The perpetrators had picked up two young men heading toward Sagwara, diverted the vehicle to an isolated road, assaulted them, and fled after looting their expensive mobile phones, wallets, cash, and critical identity cards. Following a formal complaint, law enforcement traced the vehicle and captured the accused after a brief chase into a forest area.
Commuters Picked Up Near Mathugamda Turn and Diverted to Isolated Stretch
The details of the incident came to light following a formal police complaint registered by Yaman Dave, a resident of the Sagwara Rehabilitation Colony. According to the complaint, Yaman and his friend Pankaj were waiting for transport near Mathugamda turn close to the Dungarpur bus stand at around 11:30 PM on the night of September 2, intending to travel to Sagwara. A white Eeco car pulled up near them, and the driver offered to take them as passengers. Believing the vehicle to be a commercial taxi, both youths boarded it.
Shortly after beginning the journey, near Doja turn, the driver steered the vehicle off the main highway toward an isolated area along the Dovda road. Once the car halted in the secluded spot, the occupants brandished knives and began physically assaulting Yaman and Pankaj. Issuing threats to kill them, the assailants forcibly snatched their mobile phones, wallets, cash, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and driving licenses. Having stripped the two passengers of their belongings, the robbers fled the scene immediately.
Suspects Breached Barricade and Attempted to Flee into the Forest
In response to the robbery, a special police team was assembled under the leadership of Varda Station House Officer Devendra Singh Rao. The investigating team examined local CCTV footage and analyzed technical evidence to pinpoint the registration and ownership details of the suspect vehicle. Upon receiving concrete information regarding the car's movements, officers set up a checkpoint near the Aantri bus stand.
When the patrol unit signaled the matching white Eeco van to pull over, the driver accelerated sharply in an attempt to breach the barricade and escape. The police team immediately initiated a pursuit using a private vehicle to track the speeding car across rural routes.
All Three Suspects Apprehended with Further Interrogations Underway
Upon reaching Padla Gokaliya turn, the suspects abandoned the van by the roadside and scattered on foot toward the nearby jungle to evade capture. The pursuing police personnel gave chase on foot into the dense terrain and, following a strenuous effort, surrounded and detained all three individuals.
The arrested men were identified as Arvind Kumar Kanipa, a resident of Vagdari, along with Lalit alias Lala and Subhash alias Badshah, both residents of Kalyanpur in Udaipur. Police investigators are currently interrogating the three suspects to recover the looted cash, mobile handsets, and official identification documents. Authorities suspect that the gang may be tied to several other unsolved thefts and highway robbery incidents across Dungarpur district.
