Mumbai: In a chilling incident, a 54-year-old Bandra woman was almost strangulated and electrocuted by a carpenter working in her flat on Monday night. Leaving her for dead, the accused, Rehman Khan, escaped with cash and valuables worth Rs 16 lakh from the house.

Meeta Balwani, who lives in Mangal Mahal building on Turner Road with her two doctor sons, is recuperating in hospital. Khan, who had worked in the Balwani residence with a few other carpenters and knew that she was alone during the attack, was arrested within 12 hours of the crime.

According to police, Khan was familiar with the family’s routine as he had been working in the flat for 25 days. Monday was the last day of the carpentry work and the entire group left the building in the evening. However, Khan reportedly returned soon claiming to have forgotten his mobile phone in the flat. He told Balwani that he had left it in the room they had been working. Not suspecting his motive, Balwani let him in, assistant commissioner Shivajirao Kolekar said.

Asking him to leave with his phone, she went to another room to take care of some household chore.

A little later, when Balwani found the door ajar, she closed it presuming that Khan may have left. What she was unaware of was he had been hiding inside, waiting for the right time to strike.

Suddenly, Balwani spotted Khan trying to sneak from one room to another and confronted him. Quick on his feet, Khan reportedly shut her mouth to muffle her screams and tried to strangle her. The woman fell unconscious, but to ensure that she didn’t survive the attack, Khan tried to electrocute her using the tools he had with him. Even as Balwani lay inert, he rummaged through the cupboards in the house and fled with cash and ornaments, collectively worth Rs 16 lakh. However, the images of him leaving the building were caught on CCTV cameras.

An hour later, when Balwani gained consciousness she approached her neighbours seeking help. The neighbours immediately alerted the police, called her sons and other relatives and took her to a nearby hospital. With the help of details from the carpentry contractor, the police traced Khan to his Matunga home from where they arrested him early on Tuesday.

