PUNE: A 21-year-old woman suffered injuries on her fingers in a fall after a man intercepted and kicked her scooter before snatching her smartphone along the road that links Vishrantwadi with Lohegaon airport in the early hours of Thursday.
The suspect drove away from the spot on a motorcycle, police said.
Sub-inspector Vishal Patil of the Yerawada police told TOI, “The woman works in a private company in Kalyaninagar. The incident occurred when she was on her way home around 5am after completing her night duty.”
No arrest was reported till Friday evening as the Yerawada police were looking for some definite clues to zero in on the suspect. “We had detained one person on suspicion, but his questioning barely revealed anything. We had to let him off,” a police officer said. “We are now collecting CCTV footage from some of the auto service centres in the vicinity to see if we can get some worthwhile clues,” he said.
“The spot where the incident occurred is relatively isolated and is not covered by CCTV cameras,” he added.
The police are trying to trace the robbed cellphone handset through technical surveillance. However, no breakthrough has been reported till Friday evening.
Citing the victim’s statement recorded with the police, Patil said, “As the woman reached the spot near an auto service centre, a motorcyclist overtook and intercepted her scooter, forcing her to stop. The man started removing the ignition key of her scooter, but the woman resisted. The man then kicked her scooter, resulting in the woman falling down on the road because of the sudden jerk.”
He said, “All of a sudden, the man started kicking her. The woman screamed for help, but there was no one to come to her rescue.”
“She then took out her cellphone to call the police. The man, however, snatched it. He threatened the woman not to follow him and drove away from the spot,” the officer added.
The injured woman registered a complaint with the Yerawada police late on Thursday night.
