Dacoity in Dahanu: Elderly couple assaulted, robbed of ₹6-lakh valuables

Six unidentified men broke into a bungalow in Bawda, Dahanu on Saturday, poisoned the dogs, assaulted the elderly owner couple and made way with gold, cash, LED

Six unidentified men broke into a bungalow in Bawda, Dahanu on Saturday, poisoned the dogs, assaulted the elderly owner couple and made way with gold, cash, LED TV and other items collectively worth ₹6.6 lakh, said police.

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Rohinton Taraporewala, 73, a retired chikoo farmer, and his wife, Homai, 70, stayed alone in their bungalow. The men entered the premises around midnight when the couple was asleep. They poisoned their two dogs, one of which died and the other survived.

“We woke up with the noise. By then, the six men, armed with bamboo sticks, sickle and other weapons, had entered the house. One of them pointed a country-made revolver at me and demanded keys to the iron safe. They assaulted us even after we gave them the keys,” said Taraporewala. “They took the valuables and also the digital video recorder (DVR) as the entire incident was captured on CCTV.”

The couple blamed the police for not returning their licensed revolver which was seized ahead of the Zilla Parishad polls. “If I had the revolver, I could have defended myself,” he said. The revolver was returned to Taraporewala the day after the dacoity.

“We alerted the residents who have bungalows in such isolated areas. The police have registered cases under sections 394,395,397 (dacoity), 429,427 (maiming cattle) of the Indian Penal Code against unknown persons. The couple has no enmity with anyone. Their son, who is a doctor, is settled in the UK and married daughter stays in the US,” said a police officer.