Woman thief held in Mumbai, Rs2 lakh recovered

Female railway constables on Tuesday nabbed a woman who snatched chains and robbed bags belonging to women commuters travelling in local trains. The accused claimed that she committed the crimes to support her mentally challenged husband and four teenage daughters.

“Kavita Katke, 32, residing at Kamani area in Kurla (West), was caught red-handed by two female railway constables on platform 4 at Dadar railway station during the evening peak hour,” said inspector Prakash Mansukh of the Dadar railway police station.

He added that the police recovered gold ornaments weighing 105gm and seven mobile phones collectively valued at over Rs2 lakh during the search of her Kurla home.

During the preliminary investigation, Katke revealed that she indulged in criminal activities for the past six months, as her husband Arun is mentally disturbed and unemployed and they have four teenage daughters to support. Mansukh said Katke indulged in chain snatching for more than five to six years.

Abu Azmi’s son threatened
A 22-year-old youth, who has claimed to be an associate of underworld don Ravi Pujari, was arrested by the Colaba police on Wednesday for allegedly threatening Abu Farhan Azmi, son of Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi.

The arrested person has been identified as Khalid Roshan Ansari, a resident of Gulzar Nagar, Naigaum Road, Bhiwandi.

According to the police, Azmi, 29, a resident of Sentinal House at AN Azmi Marg in Colaba, had been receiving threatening and extortion calls since March 13 from Ravi Pujari and his alleged associate identified as Abdullah.

“Ansari came to Azmi’s office on Wednesday evening. He told the office staff that he wanted to meet Azmi and was sent by Abdullah. A staffer then informed Azmi, who came to the office and met Ansari,” said a police official, requesting anonymity.

“Ansari kept an empty bag in front of Azmi and ordered him to put Rs1 crore in it, or else he would be eliminated. An alert staffer overheard this conversation and informed the police,” the officer said.

Wasting no time, the police reached the spot and arrested Ansari, who was later remanded in police custody till March 21 by a local court. “We are investigating more about Ansari and getting to know his background. We would also question him about Abdullah and whether they have any links with gangster Ravi Pujari,” the officer said.