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Ahmedabad woman arrested after spiked drink kills 81-year-old in calculated robbery
The accused is suspected of using sedatives meant for patients with mental disorders.
Lata Chauhan after she was nabbed by the Crime Branch of the Ahmedabad city police. (Photo Credit: Special Arrangement)
The Crime Branch of the Ahmedabad city police on Saturday said they have apprehended a 55-year-old woman, who allegedly drugged two elderly victims in the city to rob Rs 4,000. Meanwhile, one of the two elderly victims she drugged lost his life.
The Crime Branch said the suspect, Lata alias Gulab alias Lakdi Chauhan, allegedly carried out a series of thefts targeting senior citizens.
Speaking about the modus operandi of the suspect, the police mentioned in a statement, “In this incident, where the FIR has been filed at Dariyapur police station, the accused served the victims Lassi spiked with a potent pharmacological sedative. Once the victims, Abdul Ismail Sipai (81) and his spouse, were rendered unconscious, the suspect looted the premises. Due to the high dosage of the substance used, Abdul Sipai suffered severe physiological complications and succumbed during medical treatment.”
“The investigation reveals a sophisticated method of operation. The accused deliberately scouted for elderly residents living in isolation. Under the pretext of providing assistance with meal preparation or grocery procurement, she gained unauthorized access to their private residences, drugged them, and then robbed them,” they added.
Chauhan was nabbed by a Crime Branch team led by Police Inspector D B Patel, following a tip-off. The suspect was traced to her residence in the Shahpur area and taken into custody.
The accused, said the police, is a habitual offender with an extensive record of judicial infractions, with nine previous cases against her going back to 2019. Inspector Patel said that of the nine cases, four pertained to gambling, while five other cases were of looting the elderly.
The Crime Branch transferred the custody of Lata Chauhan to the Dariyapur Police Station, after which she was formally arrested.
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Inspector G V Gohil of Dariyapur police station said the reconstruction of the crime scene was conducted on Saturday. He added that Chauhan had told them she used a sedative usually prescribed for patients with mental disorders to drug her victims before robbing them.
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