Domestic help robs elderly couple, held
Murlidhar Chouhan, 90, and his wife Pushpalata, 82, were shocked to learn that it was their “trusted” part-time domestic help who had stolen cash and valuables from their Shivaji Park flat in November.
Murlidhar Chouhan, 90, and his wife Pushpalata, 82, were shocked to learn that it was their “trusted” part-time domestic help who had stolen cash and valuables from their Shivaji Park flat in November.
On Thursday, the police arrested Hanuman Kadam and his accomplice, Sachin Kadam. The couple had hired Hanuman in January from a bureau in Dadar to help Murlidhar.
On November 25, Hanuman and Sachin came to the Chouhans’ flat in Sushil building on Veer Sarvakar Marg. Murlidhar was sleeping in the bedroom at that time.
“Hanuman told Pushpalata that her son had asked him to come over,” said police sub-inspector SS Yadav said: “When she went into the kitchen to get him a glass of water, he quickly opened the cupboard and stole gold bangles worth Rs 15,000. It was only after he left that Pushpalata realised that the bangles were missing.”
Deepak Chouhan, their banker son who lives at Nerul with his family, said: “Though Hanuman worked at my parents’ home for 20-22 days in January and would visit once a month to give my father a haircut, my parents trusted him blindly. But I had my doubts about him. He had stolen Rs 500 from our residence a few months back.”
The Chouhans are not registered with Hamarisurakha, an initiative by the Mumbai police to protect senior citizens who live alone.
The police said Hanuman used to live with a relative at Nallasopara. “His relative had asked him to look for another accommodation and he needed money for the deposit. So, he planned to rob the elderly couple,” Yadav said.
The duo has been remanded in police custody until December 6.