Stray bullet injures woman in Dharavi

The woman’s family and neighbours do not suspect the family had any enemy, the police are checking if it could be a misfire

MUMBAI: A 32-year-old woman who was talking to her friend outside her house on Sunday night in Dharavi was hit by a stray bullet. It is not yet known who fired the bullet, said police.

The Shahu Nagar police registered a case under Section 109 (attempt to commit murder) and relevant sections under the Arms Act, 1959.

The woman, Sarwar Banu Shaikh, hails from Bihar and resides on the 90-feet road in Dharavi. After completing her work, she was talking to a friend near her house around 9.30pm when the bullet hit her shoulder. “Initially, she was not sure what had hit her. After seeing her bleed and suffer from unbearable pain, they realised it was serious and linked to a thud noise they had heard before it hit her. Her friend and she assumed a tyre burst or a firecracker went off and got her,” said a police officer.

Shaikh was rushed to the Sion hospital, where an X-ray revealed the bullet injury. The doctors removed the bullet from her shoulder. She is currently undergoing treatment, the officer said.

Officers from the Shahu Nagar police station and Mumbai Crime Branch interrogated other residents in the neighbourhood and her family members to understand if they suspected it was an attack from a rival, but they denied it. “We are questioning locals and criminal elements in the area to understand if anybody recently purchased any weapons which misfired,” said the officer.

The Shahu Nagar police registered a case under Section 109 (attempt to commit murder) and relevant sections under the Arms Act, 1959.