Former servant strangled victim to death, found only Rs 5,000 in the house
By Lievanta Millar
Three days after a 72-year-old woman was assaulted and robbed at her residence in Santacruz, a former domestic help of the victim was arrested on Sunday.
Police said that the accused, Praveen Singh Rawat, gained entry to Chanda Raheja’s flat at Shalimar Apartments on Tagore Road, near Santacruz police Station, around 8.30 pm Wednesday, with an excuse to ask her to hire his friend as a permanent domestic help.
On Thursday morning, when Raheja’s brother’s maid, who had been temporarily employed for cleaning her flat, arrived at her residence, there was no response. She then took the spare key from Raheja’s brother’s flat, and found Raheja lying on the floor, unconscious. She alerted the septuagenarian’s nephew, who called up the police.
The police were surprised that only Rs 5,000 had been stolen from the house while the jewellery the woman was wearing had not been touched. Raheja was rushed to the Asha Parekh Hospital, where she died on Sunday.
Preliminary investigation revealed that when the watchman visited Raheja’s flat at 8.30 pm on Wednesday to run some errands, he had noticed two men in her apartment. The CCTV footage of the building had also captured two men entering and exiting the building.
“We detained over 25 people. A waiter from Mayur hotel had identified the accused from the CCTV footage. He said that he knew Rawat as he used to work at the same hotel earlier. Rawat became the prime suspect,” a police source said. A police team reached Rawat’s residence in Uttaranchal but could not trace him. “He had no mobile phone. However, we knew that he would get in touch with his family. He called his family from a phone booth in Juhu Chowpatty. We traced the caller location and nabbed him from there,” a police officer said.
Rawat told the cops that he robbed the senior citizen of Rs 5,000 after having strangled her. He admitted to have spent half the money for hiring a prostitute, and Rs 500 for alcohol. He used the remaining Rs 2,000 for his food and traveling. “He was roaming all over the city and lived in the streets at Marine Lines, Dadar and Juhu,” a police source said.
During interrogation, Rawat revealed that he had planned to rob the woman of all her cash as he had been unemployed. He managed to rob only Rs 5,000 as he could not find the keys to the main cupboard.
While the police are on the lookout for the second accused, they claim to have no leads yet. “Rawat has said that he carried out the entire crime himself and isn’t naming his accomplice. We are investigating the same,” a police officer said.
Three days after a 72-year-old woman was assaulted and robbed at her residence in Santacruz, a former domestic help of the victim was arrested on Sunday.
Police said that the accused, Praveen Singh Rawat, gained entry to Chanda Raheja’s flat at Shalimar Apartments on Tagore Road, near Santacruz police Station, around 8.30 pm Wednesday, with an excuse to ask her to hire his friend as a permanent domestic help.
Rawat was aware that Raheja lived alone and was bound to the wheelchair as he was employed by her for a few months a year ago. “The accused knew everything about the woman and the society she lived in. He had planned the crime a few days ago before executing it on Wednesday,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Satyanarayan Choudhary said.
On Thursday morning, when Raheja’s brother’s maid, who had been temporarily employed for cleaning her flat, arrived at her residence, there was no response. She then took the spare key from Raheja’s brother’s flat, and found Raheja lying on the floor, unconscious. She alerted the septuagenarian’s nephew, who called up the police.
The police were surprised that only Rs 5,000 had been stolen from the house while the jewellery the woman was wearing had not been touched. Raheja was rushed to the Asha Parekh Hospital, where she died on Sunday.
Preliminary investigation revealed that when the watchman visited Raheja’s flat at 8.30 pm on Wednesday to run some errands, he had noticed two men in her apartment. The CCTV footage of the building had also captured two men entering and exiting the building.
“We detained over 25 people. A waiter from Mayur hotel had identified the accused from the CCTV footage. He said that he knew Rawat as he used to work at the same hotel earlier. Rawat became the prime suspect,” a police source said. A police team reached Rawat’s residence in Uttaranchal but could not trace him. “He had no mobile phone. However, we knew that he would get in touch with his family. He called his family from a phone booth in Juhu Chowpatty. We traced the caller location and nabbed him from there,” a police officer said.
Rawat told the cops that he robbed the senior citizen of Rs 5,000 after having strangled her. He admitted to have spent half the money for hiring a prostitute, and Rs 500 for alcohol. He used the remaining Rs 2,000 for his food and traveling. “He was roaming all over the city and lived in the streets at Marine Lines, Dadar and Juhu,” a police source said.
During interrogation, Rawat revealed that he had planned to rob the woman of all her cash as he had been unemployed. He managed to rob only Rs 5,000 as he could not find the keys to the main cupboard.
While the police are on the lookout for the second accused, they claim to have no leads yet. “Rawat has said that he carried out the entire crime himself and isn’t naming his accomplice. We are investigating the same,” a police officer said.
