Help among 4 gets 7 years in jail for robbery attempt

A sessions court on Tuesday sentenced four men, of whom one was the victim’s house help, to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for a robbery attempt of December 2013.

Additional Sessions Judge UM Padwad also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on them. The victim Suketu Shah was a building contractor and lived with his wife and two daughters in Juhu. As per the prosecution case, around 3 AM, when he was asleep in his bedroom with his wife, Kamlesh Saha, their temporary house help, knocked at their door. When Shah’s wife opened the door, Kamlesh gave her a push. Hearing the commotion, Shah went out and four men entered their bedroom. One of them was their regular domestic help Krishna Damai, a Nepal citizen. The third man was Naresh Singh, who had arranged for Damai as a domestic help for Shah. The fourth was a stranger.

Deposing before court, Shah said that all these men were wielding choppers and assaulted him in the face with their fists before gagging and tying him up. They then started taking away valuables such as jewellery and cash from the cupboards. When one cupboard did not open, the men threatened Shah and his wife by keeping choppers on their necks.

Additional Public Prosecutor Ratnavali Patil said that one of the two watchmen who were tied up with ropes by the men and confined in the electrical room, had also deposed. The watchman had deposed about how the men had taken away their mobiles too. After he and his colleague had managed to untie each other, they had gone to the building secretary’s house, who had then called the police. The police arrived and apprehended the men while they were still in Shah’s bedroom.