A police constable of Colaba police station, who was on night duty and patrolling on his cycle, nabbed a robber who allegedly assaulted and robbed a Swedish national on Thursday night on Colaba causew
A police constable of Colaba police station, who was on night duty and patrolling on his cycle, nabbed a robber who allegedly assaulted and robbed a Swedish national on Thursday night on Colaba causeway.
Shankar Bankar, the police officer, saw Timonen Larsolavi, a 56-year-old engineer from Sweden who was staying at Hotel Diplomat, crying loudly for help. Recalling the incident, Mr Bankar said, “I asked him what had happened after which he informed me about the incident. He had come to Mumbai on November 5. After having dinner at a club on November 12, he observed that someone was following him, which he chose to ignore. Later, the accused, Kishore Kale, pushed him, stabbed him badly, snatched his wallet and fled.”
After hearing about Mr Larsolavi’s ordeal, Mr Bankar immediately sprung into action. “I rode towards Kale, and after 10 minutes I spotted him. I kicked him from behind, after which he fell down. He was then brought to the police station.”
The accused, who has been arrested earlier in robbery cases, was arrested under a relevant section of the IPC. The court has given him custody till November 25.
Mr Bankar said, “Larsolavi was carrying his Visa card, debit cards and important documents in his wallet. He was really thankful to us when we returned it to him. It is important to ensure the safety of foreigners and, therefore, when I saw him crying I immediately went after the accused. Foreigners are afraid to file police complaints because of which we cannot file a case against the accused. But this time we made Larsolavi understand the gravity of the situation.”
