Youth killed for resisting robbery,4 held

Around 9.30 pm on Saturday,Rushabh Yadav (19),a college student and a resident of Bandra Government Colony,was sitting with his girlfriend Swati Shirke,also a resident of the same locality,at an isolated spot along the stretch of road leading off from the Bandra Worli Sea Link,not far from Bandra Reclamation. According to investigators,four youths,who had been roaming around the area,came to where the couple was sitting. Brandishing knives,they threatened the couple and demanded that the two part with their valuables. When Rushabh tried to resist,they allegedly stabbed him in his abdomen and also assaulted Swati on her arm with a knife,causing injuries to both.

After the assault,the four fled the spot with Rs 100,a black purse belonging to Swati and a wallet belonging to Rushabh. Swati immediately raised an alarm and other couples sitting along the road rushed to help. Rushabh was taken to Bhabha Hospital in Bandra where he succumbed to injuries early Sunday morning,while Swati was discharged after treatment.

“The place where the victims were sitting was more isolated than the common spots in the locality where couples gather in the evening. So no one could come to their rescue till after the attackers fled and Swati raised an alarm,” said a police official.

“After the police were informed,a case of robbery and murder was registered. We started conducting inquiries and soon arrested the four youths. The four youths have been identified as Riyaz Raees Khan,Saddam Mohinuddin Siddique,Umer Dadamiya Shaikh and Javed Feroz Choudhary,all aged between 19 and 20 years of age,” said Senior Police Inspector Abdul Samad Shaikh from the Bandra police station.

The police have recorded the statements of Swati,who is pursuing a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course. Rushabh was a B.Sc student in Wadala’s Vidyalankar College. Both lived in the same locality in the Government Colony and had been close for some time,the police said.

The four men arrested are residents of the Nargis Dutt Nagar slums in Bandra and are said to be drug addicts with prior cases registered against them.

The four were charged with murder and robbery and will be produced in court on Monday morning.