Doctor robbed with family on Samruddhi expressway, left traumatised

Dr Shravan Shingane the Palgharbased doctor who was robbed by a gang of four unknown men while returning home with his family from Buldhana on the Samruddhi Mahamarg on May 2 told midday that his family and he are finding it hard to recover from the traumatic encounterThe partially open 701kilometre Samruddhi Mahamarg which connects Mumbai and Nagpur has been welcomed by motorists for drastically cutting short the travel time between the two cities However incomplete construction work and an alleged lack of patrolling have turned the expressway into a hotspot for robberiesAn injured Dr Shravan Shingane left the Shinganesrsquo car which was damaged in pursuit of the robbers PicsBy special arrangementRecounting his harrowing experience Dr Shingane who runs the Sai Clinic in Boisar told midday ldquoI save lives and treat the injured for a living When these robbers attacked my family and me I felt completely helplessrdquoThe incident occurred near Karmad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district According to Dr Shingane a white car without a number plate overtook them and abruptly stopped in front of their vehicle near the Nathnagar bridge ldquoFour men stepped out Claiming to be insurance agents they forcibly took my car keys and began assaulting merdquo he saidDr Shravan Shingane his wife Chaitali their twoyearold son Shriraj and the doctorrsquos motherinlaw Meena Nibhore were travelling from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Palghar via the Samruddhi Mahamarg on the night of May 2 The family was in high spirits enjoying the drive IllustrationUday MohiteldquoMy wife then pleaded with them to stop and assured them we would hand over our valuables They snatched gold jewellery from the women When my wife tried to take their photo they grabbed her phone toordquo Dr Shingane said he was unable to resist due to the presence of his son and elderly motherinlaw ldquoThey took everything away from us in front of my eyes and I couldnrsquot lay a finger on themrdquo he saidLater after the men got into their car in a desperate attempt to stop the robbers Dr Shingane rammed his vehicle into theirs from behind The assailants however emerged and threatened to kill the family if they dared to follow them The Shinganes eventually reached a toll plaza and informed the Chikalthana police who registered an FIRAround 10 pm a white car without a number plate overtook the Shinganesrsquo vehicle and abruptly stopped in front of them at a dark spot The family could see that there were four individuals insideldquoThis highway is becoming increasingly dangerousrdquo Dr Shingane alleged ldquoMultiple gangs are active here There are many unauthorised entry and exit points due to ongoing construction work Vehicles without number plates ply freely Several stretches are poorly lit creating dark spots Security agencies and local police must intensify patrolling especially in vulnerable areas Even food plazas are not fully operational I hope the police trace and arrest the culprits soon We were returning home with a smile on our lips while returning from the wedding reception but after this encounter my family is deeply traumatisedrdquo he addedInspector Ravikiran Darwade of the Chikalthana police station said ldquoWe have registered an FIR against four unidentified persons and are working to trace the accused The Samruddhi Mahamarg is not fully operational and the patrolling by the Special Security Group is inadequate Several unauthorised entry and exit points remain open and the toll plaza is still under construction We are actively pursuing leads to identify and apprehend the suspectsrdquoThe accused snatched jewellery and cash worth R11 lakh and fled using an unauthorised exit that is unmonitored and incompleteSP Rupali Darekar of the Sambhajinagar Highway Police said ldquoWe patrol the highway 24x7 Emergency contact boards are installed every 200 to 500 metres along the highway for the safety of commuters If we receive a call our team reaches the spot within 10 minutes to assist However in this case we did not receive any call from the victim Dr Shingane after the incident He contacted the 112 police helpline which connected him to the city policerdquoShe added ldquoWe suspect two or three entry and exit points are still under construction known only to locals which the suspects might have used to escape CCTV cameras are installed across the highway We believe the accused removed their vehiclersquos number plate after entering the highway and reattached it after the incident enabling them to exit undetected The city police are facing challenges in identifying the vehicle and we are also working to trace the car Our team patrols the expressway regularlyrdquoWhat MSRDC has to sayAn official from MSRDC said ldquoThe Maharashtra State Highway police is in charge of security on the NagpurIgatpuri stretch of the expressway A total of 192 Maharashtra Security Force guards and 16 patrolling vehicles have been given to the Maharashtra State Highway police by the MSRDC for the operational stretch of the Samruddhi MahamargrdquoatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params