New Delhi, May 13: Elderly people in the city are increasingly falling victim to incidents of crime.
A senior citizen died and another person was admitted to hospital on Tuesday after robbers struck in two separate incidents in the Kalkaji area of South Delhi.
Police said that 86- year old Janak Raj Likhi may have died of shock after robbers left him with his hands and feet tied.
His neighbour, 76- year- old Vidya Gulabani, was also left with her hands and feet tied.
But she survived and has been admitted to a hospital where she is undergoing treatment.
Both of them used to stay in the ground floor of their buildings and the families had no clue about the robberies till later in the day.
The robbers ransacked the adjacent houses and decamped with jewellery, cash and other valuables. Police said that the incidents took place between 1 and 3 am on Tuesday.
The robbery at Gulabani’s house was discovered around 4am on Tuesday when her grandson Anubhav came down for some work. He found the door to Gulabani’s room open.
“ I was shocked to see the room. It was completely ransacked,” Anubhav said.
When he stepped inside the room he found his grandmother tied up. “ She was almost unconscious and could say nothing about the incident. She was in a state of shock,” he added.
The other members of the family were informed and Gulabani was taken to the nearby Holy Family hospital.
Gulabani’s son Ramesh is the CEO of Uttam Toyota in Ghaziabad.
He and other members of the family were sleeping on the upper floors of the house when the robbery took place.
The police said the robbers cut the iron grills of the window to enter the house.
Likhi’s house was attacked in a similar manner. The robbery came to light around 7 am when the maid knocked on the door.
“ She found the door open. She informed the family members who were probably sleeping at the upper floors of the house,” a police officer said.
The family members rushed to the ground floor and found Likhi tied and unconscious.
He was taken to the Holy Family hospital where he was declared “ brought dead”. Police said there was no injury marks and he could have died of shock. Likhi’s son Anil used to work with Doordarshan.
A senior police officer said the robbers were apparently aware that the ground floors of the two houses were occupied by the senior citizens.
Additional commissioner of police Virender S. Chahal said the modus operandi of the robbers seemed similar to the act carried out by a group of Bangladeshi robbers operating in Delhi.
They come with rods and heavy metal to break open the doors. “ Lot of construction work is going on in the area. We are going to interrogate the workers and explore all the angles,” said a police officer.
The police were hoping for some description of the robbers from Gulabani but were disappointed since she has only 5- 10 per cent vision.
—Agencies