Byculla homemaker overpowers gun-wielding thief, shocked to find she knew him

She distracted the thief by talking before snatching his gun, only to find the thief was no stranger

MUMBAI: A Byculla homemaker overpowered a thief who barged into her 10th floor apartment and demanded her valuables while holding her teenage daughter at gunpoint. The woman kept the burqa-clad thief engaged in conversation, claiming that all their valuables were in another apartment in the same building, while inching closer to him and then snatching his gun.

Police said that on hearing the commotion, neighbours rushed to the woman’s aid and held the thief captive until they handed him over to the police. (File Photo)

Police said that on hearing the commotion, neighbours rushed to the woman’s aid and held the thief captive until they handed him over to the police. They were relieved to find the weapon he was carrying was a toy gun and, on removing his burqa, shocked to find that they all knew him! Torikul Dala, 30, had been working as caretaker for a 78-year-old man residing on the 11th floor of the same building, said Vilas Supe, senior inspector of the Byculla police station. Supe said the accused had planned the robbery to help him clear a debt he was unable to repay.

Police said the incident occurred at 7.30pm on Monday, when Dala entered the woman’s flat in B Wing of Jasmin Apartments, near Mazgaon Garden, after finding the door open. On finding the woman’s 14-year-old daughter right there, he grabbed her, held his ‘gun’ to her neck, and told her mother, Sumara Umar Shamsi, 47, to hand over all her valuables. He threatened the kill her daughter if she refused to do as told.

Dala claimed that armed members of his ‘gang’ were waiting downstairs, and if Shamsi raised an alarm, they would harm others in the building, said the police officer. He added that the woman, who demonstrated unusual presence of mind, kept the thief talking while slowly moving closer to him, and eventually snatched his ‘pistol’.

Although disarmed, Dala did not give up. He claimed he was carrying a bomb and would kill Shamsi and her daughter if they did not do as they were told. Even that did not deter Shamsi. She overpowered the thief and called out for help.

The police said Dala, who worked on the floor above Shamsi, had noticed that she would often leave her front door open, which is when he hatched his plan. He has been arrested and charged Section 308(8) (putting or attempting to put any person in fear of death or of grievous hurt to that person for committing extortion), Section 333 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) and Section 351(3) (criminal intimidation by treating to cause death or grievous hurt, or to cause the destruction of any property by fire) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).