23 July,2014 06:35 AM IST | | Sagar Rajput
55-year-old was approached by a woman to perform rituals for her ‘newly inaugurated shop’; she and her male partner-in-crime then took him in a car, relieved him of all his valuables
Two crooks looted a 55-year-old priest after inviting him to conduct a pooja at the newly opened shop of one of the accused. The duo a man and a woman robbed him of his valuables and dumped him on the Eastern Express Highway. The victim then registered a case at the Mulund police station.
According to the police, the complainant, Bharat Jamnadas Joshi, was initially approached by the woman, who invited him to conduct some rituals at a shop she claimed had opened recently. She met him near Bal Rajeshwar temple in Mulund.
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D S Bagul, police sub-inspector from Mulund police station, said, "The female accused claimed she had to carry out some rituals at her newly opened shop and asked the priest whether he could do it for her. The man agreed."
The next day, the woman sent Joshi a message with the address of the shop. She also called him and asked him to come to Kanjurmarg station, from where she would pick him up and take her to the shop.
After reaching Kanjurmarg station at around 11.15 am on July 19, Joshi called up the woman, who requested him to wait for some time, claiming she was on her way there from Kandivli. "The female accused then arrived in her Alto car and picked him. Her male accomplice got into the vehicle junction at Square Junction near the Kanjurmarg flyover on the Powai Link Road.
The duo then ordered the priest to hand over all his valuables to them. After robbing him, they dumped him on Eastern Express Highway," added Bagul. The victim lost gold ornaments worth R1 lakh, after which he approached the Mulund police.
The police are trying to trace the two accused through the woman's mobile number recovered from Joshi. The duo has been booked under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
