Robbers take bride-to-be's Rs 70-lakh jewellery

Mumbai: It's not a good idea to have jewellery worth Rs 70 lakh lying around in a cupboard when you are alone at home. It's an even worse idea to then open the door to strangers without adequately establishing their identity. Ask Sangeeta Sudhakar Shenoy.

According to Vanrai police, the 62-year-old resident of the sixth floor of Suraj Heights located at Sharma Estate in Goregaon (East) was alone at home when two men posing as a gas pipeline company employees entered her house on the pretext of checking the meter and looted her after injuring her.

Shenoy stays with her husband who works for Hyundai and daughter Supriya who is employed with a call centre of JP Morgan Chase in Malad (West). Shenoy's son lives in Dubai.

All gas
Police officers investigating the case said that at 1.30pm on Monday, two men entered the B-wing of Suraj Apartments on the pretext of being from a gas agency. They were stopped by the watchman and asked to enter their details on a register, where they wrote a different flat number and gave a nine-digit mobile phone number.

Shenoy, who has been admitted to the Baliga Nursing Home in Goregaon (West), told the police in her statement that she was alone when she heard the doorbell ring. She opened the door and found two men standing outside.

They told Shenoy that they were from Mahanagar Gas Limited and had come to check the reading of the meter. Shenoy let the duo in, while informing them that the meter had been replaced two days ago. The men then told her that they had been sent to check the meters of the entire building.

Shenoy who noticed the men walk into her house with their shoes on, told them to remove the footwear outside. But by then, one of the robbers had already climbed onto the kitchen platform and had begun checking the gas meter. He informed Shenoy that her meter was faulty. Suddenly, before she could react, the miscreant jumped on her and gagged her mouth. The robbers then threatened her and began removing her gold bangles, mangalsutra and ring.

In a bind
"They beat me up and also attacked me with a knife, injuring both my hands. They then tied my hands and taped my mouth and asked me where the rest of the gold jewellery was," said Shenoy. The robbers then turned up the volume of the television and ransacked her cupboard, looting valuables worth over Rs 70 lakh before escaping.

Shenoy's neighbours said that their door was open when they saw the victim crawling over with blood dripping from her hands. "She had managed to remove the tape from her mouth but could not speak. She came crawling to our door after her relative next door did not answer. We then informed the society members and rushed her to the hospital," said G Panchal, Shenoy's neighbour.

Inside information?
Police officers investigating the case said that Shenoy's daughter was engaged and was going to get married on April 6. For this the family had bought jewellery worth lakhs. "The robbers were aware about the gold at home and also that Shenoy stays alone during the day. During our probe we found that Shenoy had been talking to a few women near the building a day before about the purchase. We suspect that either the robbers overheard the conversation or were informed," said senior police inspector S Shinde, from Vanrai police station.
Cops are now trying to find out whom Shenoy spoke to the previous day and are also recording the statement of the domestic help.