MAPUSA
Police have arrested four youth on charges of robbing cash and valuables worth Rs 1.5 lakh from two youth from Tamil Nadu, after pretending to show them the booking office for ATVs and off-road bikes in Calangute and then taking them to an unknown location.
The accused have been identified as Rajendra Nath (25) a native of Odisha but residing at Khobravado-Calangute; Sachin Rathod (23), a native of Bijapur-Karnataka but residing at Candolim; Saikiran T Sitaram (23), a native of Odisha but residing at Khobravado-Calangute; and Sunil Rathod (24), a native of Bijapur-Karnataka but residing at Candolim.
In a police complaint, Lingesh Sundar (19) stated that the incident had taken place at Savatawada Calangute on Thursday at around 8 pm when he had come to Goa along with a friend, Mankesh Kumar.
He was informed by someone that off-road bike sports like ATVs are driven on the sand at Calangute beach.
Eager to drive these ATV off-road bikes, they went in search of the booking office of these bikes. They then met one of the accused, who took to a secluded place on the pretext of showing them the booking office.
A short while later, three other suspects reached the site and allegedly assaulted Sundar and Kumar. After reportedly threatening them with dire consequences, the accused allegedly snatched the complainant's mobile phone and the gold chain on Mankesh Kumar.
The accused are alleged to have forced Sundar to scan a QR code and transfer Rs 27,000 through UPI, thereby robbing items and cash worth a combined Rs 1.5 lakh, before fleeing from the spot.
The tourists went to the Calangute police station and lodged a complaint. Acting on the complaint, the police conducted an investigation and arrested all four suspects on Friday night. A Mapusa court later remanded the four accused to six days in police custody and Police Sub-Inspector Kiran Naik is conducting investigation in the matter.
