Pune City Police have detained minor boys of 16 and 14 years for allegedly murdering a 70-year-old woman. The crime was inspired by a television show named CID.
Woman identified
The woman, identified as Shalini Babanrao Sonawane, was found lifeless with head injury at her residence in the Sayali apartment of Hingne Khurd on October 30. Her son, Virat Sonawane (39), had lodged an FIR in the Sinhagad police station.
Valuables looted
Police stated that cash and gold jewellery well worth Rs 1.6 lakh have been stolen from the house. Initially, a complaint was lodged on some unidentified people under Sections 359 and 459 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A team headed by senior police inspector Devidas Ghevare and inspector Pramod Waghmare started a probe into the case. A press launch issued on Wednesday said that police officers have been struggling to get any clues about the murderers even after 48 hours of the incident.
Meanwhile, policeman Ujjwal Mokashi learnt from a few children, who often used to play in a temple -placed near the crime scene, that after the latter had eaten pani puri on October 30, their other friends had rushed home in a hurry.
Suspicious CCTV footage
Cops discovered the behaviour suspicious and so they zeroed in on those boys. During the probe, police additionally found footage of those boys moving in a suspicious way which got captured in CCTV cameras positioned withinside the area. So, the research group nabbed the 2 boys for questioning.
Statement by police
“Probe revealed that one of the minor boys had a history of committing theft. The two boys knew the deceased woman well and often visited her residence. They knew where the old woman was keeping her money and ornaments,” police said.
They added that the boys executed the crime by copying some of the tricks shown in CID.
“They decided to rob her when she was alone at her house. Accordingly, the two minor boys went to her home around 1.30 pm on October 30 when she was alone and watching television,” the police press release stated.
“The boys attacked the woman all of a sudden and gagged her, leading to her death. The boys then robbed Rs 93,000 cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 67,500 from the house and escaped from the spot,” the press release added.
Inspiration from CID
Police stated to avoid the finger prints on the crime scene, the boys have used hand gloves, something which they learnt from CID.
Culprits not arrested yet
Police have recovered the robbed valuables from the boys. The boys have not been arrested yet since they are still minors, however they had been taken to a remand home according to the rules.