MUMBAI: Police within few hours arrested a medical shop owner and his two aides, including a college student, for the alleged robbery they committed at a doctor’s flat in a highrise residential building in Jogeshwari (East) after they managed to enter the flat after they posed as courier boys on Thursday.
The robbery reportedly was planned by the mastermind Vikram Yadav (33) to clear Rs 20 lakh debt he had incurred in his medical business due to the lockdown and also claimed that his son was removed from the school for not paying fees during the academic year.
Yadav’s robbery bid failed after a youth, Nagesh Burla, who resides in the adjacent flat rushed to her flat on hearing a scream and snatched the knife from the two who fled away with just Rs 1000.
The victim, a teacher by profession, suffered a minor injury on her hand during the scuffle she had with the two accused. Yadav, who runs a medical shop in the vicinity in Jogeshwari (west) where the victim Sushila Yadav’s (41) husband’s Dr Rajesh Kumar has a clinic, was also annoyed with the victim’s husband who stopped prescribing patients to his medical shop after his friend started a medical shop close to his clinic.
“Yadav planned along with his two aides—interior designer Ajay Yadav (32) and college student Rajesh Yadav (18)—to clear his debts. His aides supported him so that they too can benefit. They intended to attack the victim’s wife seriously before robbing. The duo posed as courier boys while the mastermind stayed in the building premises,” said ACP (Meghwadi division) Sujata Patil.
The incident occurred at around 1.45pm when Sushila Yadav was alone in her flat on the sixth floor at Satellite Park building in Jogeshwari (East) after her husband went to his clinic at around 11 am. In the complaint, Sushila said, “At around 1.30pm, a youth posed as courier boy rang the doorbell. I spoke with him without opening the safety door. The youth that he has come to deliver a parcel. I told them that I did not order anything. But the person convinced that my husband has ordered it. I signed the delivery paper and tried to collect the parcel through the safety door gap. As the box was big I was forced to open the door and immediately one of the accused barged in and pointed a knife at me.
Meanwhile, another person too stepped in with a bag.” The accused before fleeing dropped the bag they brought in which the police found nylon strings and tapes.
Sushila fought with the duo and during the scuffle, she suffered a knife injury. “On seeing victim’s neighbour Burla rushed into the victim’s flat, the accused managed to flee. Burla along with building residents chased down the duo but they managed to escape. Meanwhile, they found the medical shop owner suspiciously standing on the premises. They caught hold of him and called the police. Based on the complaint, DCP Maheshwar Reddy formed the team and questioned Yadav who broke down and confessed to planning the offence along with his two aides for fast income as all of them were in dire need of money. Yadav also claimed that apart from Rs 20 lakh debt he wanted to pay his son’s fees which he failed due to his he was removed from school. We did not buy out his theory,” said Jogeshwari police senior inspector Mahendra Nerlekar.
Nerlekar said the lockdown has hampered the income of many and some of them are trying easier means to earn money. “It is advised to people not to entertain anyone or open doors if strangers knock at your door. In this case, we are checking how the accused managed to enter the building when there were two security guards on duty,” he said.