Navi Mumbai cop, husband foil robbery bid, get stabbed by thieves

A female constable and her husband were attacked with sharp weapons by robbers who had broken into their house in the wee hours on Friday, after they foiled a robbery bid. The couple had tried stopping the intruders from escaping their Nerul apartment, but were unsuccessful in doing so. It was the constable's brother who heard their cries and took them to the hospital.

Vinanti Patil and her husband, Ravindra, woke up at 2.30 am to find a robber in their ground-floor apartment in Nerul. Illustrations/Amit Bandre

According to the police, the female constable has been identified as Vinanti Patil, who is attached to the Navi Mumbai Commissionerate. Her husband, Ravindra, is a technician at the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation. The couple stay in a ground-floor flat in Sector 6, Nerul with their two daughters and a son.

Seeing the duo, the robber tried fleeing from the window, but Ravindra grabbed his legs. Vinanti, too, tried stopping him. The robber, and his accomplice, who was right by the window, attacked the couple with sharp choppers

Stabbed
Vinanti's brother, Kapil Patil, who lives in the adjacent building, told mid-day, "Renovation work is on in their house, so they are yet to fix a grill. But, they had kept their windows closed. However, the thief opened the window and entered inside."

Vinanti's brother came running to their house on hearing Ravindra's screams of pain. The robbers, however, had fled by then

Relatives said there were at least two thieves, one of whom was waiting by the sliding window as the other sneaked inside by opening it. It was Vinanti who heard a sound in the kitchen and woke up her husband. When the couple confronted the two accused, the thief inside the house tried to escape through the window.

Female constable Vinanti Patil with her husband, Ravindra, and their three children

Seeing this, Ravindra grabbed his leg to prevent him from fleeing. However, the accused attacked him with a chopper on his head and back. As the constable tried to intervene, she, too, was attacked and sustained deep cuts on her hands and head.

The robbers managed to flee, though they couldn't steal anything. Kapil said, "I heard Ravindra's cry as he was being stabbed by the accused. We rushed to their house and took them to Shrushrusha Hospital." They have been admitted to the hospital.

Mangesh Palande, assistant police inspector from Nerul police station, said, "The incident took place at around 2.30 am. The hospital authorities intimated us after the Patils were brought there. We have registered the offence and are hunting for the accused." The unidentified men have been booked under section 392 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code.