Palghar grandma fights off robber, injures him

Palghar grandma fights off robber, injures him
Displaying remarkable fortitude, a senior citizen fought off a robber who forced his way into her flat in Mahim Road, Palghar on Sunday afternoon. Police said the robber dragged her to the kitchen and demanded the keys to the cupboard, but Laxmi Atmaram Patil, 75, refused and fought him After a 15-minute standoff, the robber made off with her bangle and gold chain weighing 27 grams in total and worth Rs 75,000, but not before being scratched several times by Patil.

Palghar police are not ruling out an insider job, as the miscreant attempted the robbery when she was alone at home for the weekend. Her son Dinanath, 50, is employed with the Palghar Zilla Parishad and was visiting his son, a mechanical engineering student at a college in Ratnagiri. Her daughter-in-law was at her parents’ home in Saphale.

According to her complaint, she had opened the door to let her three minor nieces out when the unidentified miscreant landed up. Posing as an MSEB official, he demanded to see the electricity bill. Before Patil could react, he pushed her to the ground and entered the flat. “I tried to shout for help but I couldn’t,” she said.

Patil managed to call out to building resident Ritesh Patil as he descended the stairs, and narrated her ordeal. “I immediately rushed to Palghar police station. A team led by PSI Pratap Bhos rushed to the spot,” he said.

“Though the building is not under CCTV surveillance, footage from a security camera in a shop in the building shows man lurking suspiciously near the building. The victim was given first aid as she suffered a minor head injury. We have registered a case of trespass, theft and under other IPC sections against unknown person,” Bhos said.