Youth posing as delivery boy to rob elderly woman in Nagpur beaten to death by residents

Nagpur: A youth with a criminal background, caught red-handed while trying to rob an elderly woman at her home in the guise of a delivery boy, was thrashed by residents. He died while being taken to hospital. The incident has caused a stir in the city police. Police officers are avoiding giving details of the incident. The incident took place on Tuesday afternoon at Prithviraj Society under Beltarodi police station limits. The deceased is said to be Sumedh Rajendra Gajbhiye, 28, a resident of Narsala. His associate, Deepak Patil, was also injured. He survived because he fled the spot.

According to police sources, Sumedh was involved in theft offences. On Tuesday at 2.30 pm he arrived at Prithviraj Society on a motorcycle with his associate Deepak Patil. He knocked on the door of Usha Devidas Dharmik, 61. Both were wearing T-shirts resembling those of food delivery agents. On the pretext of delivering a parcel, they asked Usha to open the door. Taking them for delivery boys, Usha opened it. As soon as the door opened, Sumedh entered the house. His associate Deepak Patil stayed outside. Sumedh threatened Usha Dharmik with a knife and tried to snatch her chain. Usha began to shout. Hearing her, her son, who was in the house, came to help and caught hold of Sumedh. He called out to the neighbours for help, and they rushed over. Residents of the locality also gathered on learning of the incident and surrounded Sumedh and Deepak.

Residents were enraged on learning of the daylight robbery attempt and beat both men with kicks and punches. Deepak Patil escaped, while Sumedh was caught by the residents, who beat him. Beltarodi police reached the spot on learning of the incident and took Sumedh to the Medical College hospital, where he was declared dead. Residents blame the police's "slow response" for the incident. They say Beltarodi police took about half an hour to reach the spot, during which time Sumedh, injured in the beating, became critical. A theft case is learnt to have been registered against Sumedh. Because the case is extremely sensitive, the police are also said to be shaken.