23-year-old arrested for holding senior citizen hostage in her own flat, robbing ₹5L gold

A 23-year-old man was arrested for holding a 75-year-old woman hostage overnight and stealing gold bangles worth ₹5 lakh in Mira Road.

MUMBAI: The police on Friday arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly holding a 75-year-old woman hostage in her house at Mira Road for an entire night before making away with gold bangles worth ₹5 lakh. Within 72 hours, the robber, Mohammed Salim Chaudhary, who worked in a nearby jewellery store, was arrested with the help of CCTV footage and his mobile phone location.

Fatima Yousuf Jwale (Azim Tamboli)

According to the crime branch of Mira-Bhayander Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police, the incident occurred on Tuesday in the Laxmi Park Devdarpan Society in Naya Nagar, Mira Road. Chaudhary was aware that the senior citizen, Fatima Yousuf Jwale, lived alone in her flat. At around 9pm, he knocked on her door with electrical tools in his hand, imitating an electrician. He said he was sent by the society residents, and Jwale believed him as a fire had recently broken out in her house due to a short circuit.

After she let him in, Chaudhary allegedly closed the door behind him and held her at knife point. He forced her into the bedroom and demanded she hand over all valuables to him. He then allegedly gripped her neck and punched her. Jwale could not call anybody for help as he had snatched her mobile phone, deleted all her contacts, and switched it off before returning it. He threatened her not to reveal to anyone what had happened and left the building at 5am.

The next day, Jwale’s niece, Sana Shaikh, visited the flat as her mobile phone was switched off and learnt about her ordeal. She informed Jwale’s sister, Nazia Wagle, and the three women complained to the MBVV police about the robbery.

The police registered a case against the accused and began investigating. “We scanned CCTV footage from the building’s vicinity and spotted Chaudhary sneaking out early in the morning. We followed the footage till his building and after tracing his mobile location, we found him at his house,” said an officer.

Chaudhary was booked under Section 309(6) (robbery) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita. The police are now finding out why he committed the crime and whether he had attacked and robbed other women as well.