Robber assaults woman, caught

PANVEL: A 22-year-old man from Panvel, who allegedly attacked and tried to rob a school teacher of her bag, was caught by some alert autorickshaw drivers on Friday. He was later handed over to the police.

According to the police, the accused Pinto Madgu, a native of West Bengal accosted the teacher Seema Kuthli, 30, when she was on her way home from school.

“The woman got off the auto under the bridge on PanvelJNPT road and was walking t owards her home around 2.15pm. The accused came from behind and tried to snatch her bag, which was hanging from her shoulder,” said M Koladkar, assistant inspector from Panvel police station.

Kuthli, however, held her bag tight and started shouting for help. The accused then started hitting her on her face and back and tried to run away with her bag.

“Some auto drivers, who were passing by, saw the man assaulting the woman and they rushed to her help. They caught the accused, beat him and later handed him over to us,” Koladkar said.

Kuthli suffered minor injuries in the attack.

“The accused is a drug addict and we think he was in need of money to purchase marijuana. We are now interrogating him to find out if he committed similar crimes ear- lier too,” another police officer said.

The police have booked the accused under sections 394 of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced before the judicial court on Saturday afternoon and has been remanded in police custody till April 20.