MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 27: The Phasse Pardhi tribe strikes again. This is the second time in just over a month that the tribe has struck in a middle-class neighbourhood.A 56-year-old woman and two others in Mulund East were injured in a duel with suspected members of the Phasse Pardhi tribe early this morning. Earlier, on October 4, two policemen and a watchman in Malad were killed when a 10-member gang of the tribe had struck. Two more persons were injured in subsequent raids by the tribe at Goregaon.According to Mulund police, the four-member gang who struck last night at the Yashashree Co-operative Housing Society, Navghar, Mulund East, escaped with gold and valuables worth Rs 9000.Investigating officer, inspector R C Patil told Express Newsline that the gang first attacked a pan-beedi vendor, Suresh Ohhamiya Pujari, who was returning home, at the society. At 1:30 am, four unknown people attacked him with iron rods and wooden sticks and snatched away his gold chain, valued at Rs 4000, a Rs 900-worth Titan watch and Rs 15 in cash.Pujari's brother, Shyam, rushed to his aid hearing his cries for help. Shyam was not spared by the gang either. Meanwhile, neighbours rushed to the spot, when the gang beat a hasty retreat, by jumping over the compound wall. Neighbours informed that the accused were in the age-group of 18 and 22.According to sub-inspector Navle, preliminary investigations revealed that the gang had earlier broken into two empty flats belonging to Rajesh Pancharia and B J Pandagle without much success.After making their exit from the Yashashree Co-operative Housing society, they found a target in the adjacent Sahani Colony.At a ground floor flat of the building Taya Madlani was waiting for her husband to return home from Kalyan, where he had gone to attend a marriage. The gang members, under the garb of being watchmen, came towards her and struck her hard on the back with a wooden stick, before she could even bat her eye lid. They then decamped with the gold mangalsutra, valued at Rs 4000 that she was wearing.Patil said that the description given by the residents match that of the Phasse-Pardhi tribe. He added that several suspects have been rounded up in connection with the case during a combing operation conducted by the Mulund Police at Kalwa and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) colony in Mulund East. Further investigations were in progress.
