Trio accused in Thursday's murder and robbery at MIDC were arrested yesterday, based on a mark sheet one of them had accidentally left behind

AN SSC mark sheet left behind by one of the murderers of a 31-year-old woman in Thursday night's armed robbery at MIDC proved to be his and his accomplices' undoing with the trio's arrest last evening.


One of the men had left behind a plastic bag containing
the mark sheet, and he was traced to Jogeshwari

On Friday, MiD DAY had reported how three robbers had barged into the house of Aruna Pandey (31) and had beaten her and her son Himanshu (12) up, claiming that her husband owed them Rs 15 lakh.

The men, who turned out to be robbers, had stabbed Aruna to death before fleeing with some ornaments. In their hurry to leave, however, they left a plastic bag containing one of their mark sheets behind.

Prakash Wadkar, assistant commissioner of police (MIDC), said, "When we reached the house, the woman's husband told us that he had not borrowed any money from anybody.

A search of the house led to us finding a plastic bag containing an SSC mark sheet from 2005. The husband said the report card did not belong to anybody in the house."

"We went to the school mentioned on the mark sheet and found that it belonged to a Jogeshwari resident, who we subsequently detained," he added.

The man broke down during sustained questioning and revealed that he and two of his accomplices had killed Aruna.

He also said that their gang's modus operandi was to enter houses when women were alone and claim that their husband owed them money, before robbing the houses and fleeing.

The arrested accused have been identified as Zuber Ahmed (23), Kartik Prasad (23), and Yusuf Hussain (25). They have been charged with murder and robbery.

"We are now finding out about the other robberies carried out by the trio," said Wadkar.