Robbers kill old woman, injure 2 family members

ALLAHABAD: Around half-a-dozen armed robbers killed an old woman and looted cash and jewellery from the house of a retired government employee at Sudnipur village under the limits of Sarayinayat police station early on Wednesday.
The robbers also stabbed two other family members when they resisted and made a futile attempt to save the old woman. The robbers targeted the family members after locking the owner the house in another room and executed the dacoity. Upon being alerted by the villagers, senior police officers including SSP (Prayagraj) Nitin Tiwari along with sleuths of crime branch and forensic experts rushed to the spot and carried out investigations.

The SSP told TOI, “Two police teams have been constituted to solve the crime. The unidentified robbers barged into the house of a retired government employee, Thakur Prasad Mishra, at around 3 am and killed his wife Durga Devi (80) while executing the crime. The robbers also injured the slain woman’s son Sharda Prasad Mishra (60) and his wife Kusum Devi (60) when they tried to save the old woman. Both the injured persons have been admitted to a hospital.”

The SSP added that after retirement, Thakur Prasad had settled in Sudnipur village along with his family members. The injured victims told police that when all the family members were fast asleep when a group of unidentified robbers barged into their house and locked the room of Thakur Prasad from outside. The robbers thrashed the old woman with a stick and later hacked her to death with a sharpedged weapon when she raised an alarm.

In the meantime, the cousin of Thakur Prasad, who was sleeping in another room, woke up after hearing cries and sounds and called up neighbours and others for help. The villagers then informed the police and senior police officials about the incident.

By then, the robbers had escaped with booty, including jewellery and cash.

Police said that a few looted boxes were recovered on Wednesday morning near railway tracks. The family members are yet to submit the list of looted jewellery and cash to the police. Meanwhile, villagers told police that they had noticed the movement of suspicious people and claimed that it might be handiwork of ‘kachcha-baniyan’ gang. The sleuth of crime branch have also been asked to assist the local Sarayinayat police to crack the incident.