14 February,2024 06:55 AM IST | Mumbai | Shirish Vaktania
The bungalow where the Zaveri family resides at Khar West
The Khar police suspect that the two 19-year-olds who made off with jewellery and cash worth Rs 50 lakh after drugging a Khar family on Saturday night were following the plan of a habitual offender who had tasked the duo with posing as domestic help. The police are currently tracing the accused in Bihar.
The duo, Bihar residents Raja Yadav and Shatrughn Kumar, were hired by the Zaveri family through the family's former driver to do cleaning and kitchen work. Police suspect the mastermind had got in touch with the driver and he had trained the duo to do his bidding. The family resides at Zaveri House on 14th Road in Khar West. The accused mixed sleeping pills into food that they served to them.
Mastermind's actions
According to the police, the former driver, Santosh Roy, had been working at Zaveri House but left the job in November 2023. It was through Roy that the family hired Raja Yadav last month. The man had claimed that Yadav desperately needed a job. Roy had also referred Kumar 10 months prior. A police source said the man Roy encountered probably had a criminal record. Yadav and Kumar would clean the house and assist in cooking duties. They would sleep in the kitchen at Zaveri House.
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Shatrughn Kumar and Raja Yadav, who posed as domestic help to dupe the Khar-based Zaveri family
On February 10, the cook prepared idli, sambhar, dosa and chutney for dinner. The accused allegedly mixed sleeping pills into the food and served it to the family around 7 pm. After dinner, the complainant, Sunita Zaveri, felt uneasy and decided to sleep early. Her daughter, relatives and housemaid also went to bed early.
On February 11 morning, the family woke up vomiting, and discovered the house, was in a shambles. The locker was found open and jewellery and cash worth R50 lakh were missing. The family was rushed to the hospital and later released.
DCP Krishnakant Upadhyay said, "We have sent a team to Bihar to trace the accused. We are making every effort to apprehend them and are checking their records to confirm if they have any criminal history. We are investigating if there was a mastermind."
