67-year-old’s murder: Police yet to identify the accused

Visaria was smothered with a pillow and the police are probing if it is a case of a robbery attempt gone wrong.

A day after a 67-year-old woman was found murdered in her third-floor flat in Mulund (West), the police are yet to trace the accused.

The police are working on leads that include robbery and personal disputes. “We found that the victim Rukshmani Damji Visaria was living alone in her flat,” said a police officer privy to the investigation. (HT image)

The police are working on leads that include robbery and personal disputes. “We found that the victim Rukshmani Damji Visaria was living alone in her flat,” said a police officer privy to the investigation.

“We suspect that the house was ransacked by the accused. However, her bangles and chain are intact and nothing appears to be stolen from the flat as there were not many valuables. There are no CCTV cameras in the building,” he added.

Visaria was smothered with a pillow and the police are probing if it is a case of a robbery attempt gone wrong.

The victim lived in a two-bedroom flat at Trivedi Bhuvan on RRT Road, while one of her sons, Mehul, lived on the first floor of the same building with his family. Her two other sons, Nitin and Dhiren, also lived in the same area, the police said.

Visaria had gone to Gujarat for a pilgrimage and had returned on Sunday. She met Mehul the same night in her flat.

According to the police, around 1.40pm on Monday, a woman employee of a shop owned by Nitin, had gone to the victim’s flat to use the washroom, when she discovered the main door open.

The employee saw Visaria lying motionless in the bedroom and informed the sons, who called the police.

“We suspect that there has been forced entry into the house,” said a police officer, adding that forensic experts have been roped in to help identify the accused.

The police have been questioning the three sons for any leads and are investigating further.