Youth arrested for killing, robbing employer's aged mom after getting fired

As MiD DAY reported on Tuesday (‘Elderly woman found at home with neck slit'), Nirmala Vora was discovered lying in a pool of blood inside her apartment at Nimani chawl, SV Road. Cash and jewellery worth Rs 4.5 lakh was missing from the house. "A kitchen knife that had been used in the crime was found near the body.u00a0

All the ‘RAGE': Pappu alias Girwatsingh Bhagwatsingh Devda (20) was arrested by Crime Branch, Unit XI, for murdering 78-year-old Nirmala Vora after the victim's daughter axed him from his job. Pic/Milind Karekar

The weapon had been purchased by the accused from a hawker at a railway station," said Praful Bhosale, assistant commissioner of police, Crime Branch.

Cops said that Nirmala's 52-year-old daughter Chetna - who found the body - is a spinster and runs a juice centre at Inorbit Mall, Malad (W). Police started picking up all possible suspects - the cable operator, employees at the juice outlet - but failed to find anything initially.

The dog squad that was brought to the crime scene also headed towards Inorbit Mall before losing the scent. Further investigations revealed that Chetna had sacked one of the workers at the juice centre about two months ago.

"We came to know that Pappu alias Girwatsingh Bhagwatsingh Devda (20) was fired a few days earlier and one of his brothers still works with an ice cream parlour at the same mall," said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police, Crime.

Cops managed to pick up Devda from Udaipur station in Rajasthan following a tip-off. "Devda told us that he was sacked by Chetna for his lackadaisical attitude and this had angered him. He claimed he had also not been paid for his 22 days of work. He had come to know that his employer's mother stayed alone in the house during the day and decided to rob her. He also decided to kill her to protect his identity," said Bhosale.u00a0