Abdul Khan (left), a history-sheeter, posed as a lineman to get into the Mahadik’s flat in New Tapovan buildin... Read More

MUMBAI: Home alone, an 11-year-old braveheart fought off a thief who barged into his Virar home on Tuesday and stopped him from stealing his mother's favourite gold necklace worth around Rs 55,000. The boy's screams for help alerted his mother, who was returning home, and neighbours who caught the suspect.

The incident took place around 12.30pm, when Tanish Mahadik, a class V student, returned from school to his third-floor flat in New Tapovan building. His father, Prakash, was at work and mother, Divya, had gone to drop his sister to school.

The suspect, Abdul Khan (52), posing as a lineman, rang the doorbell of the Mahadiks' residence and said he wanted to check the power lines, but Tanish told him to come back later as he was alone at home. On hearing this, Khan barged into the flat and pushed the boy on the bed in the living room. Even before Tanish could recover from the shock, Khan went into the kitchen, opened the metal cupboard and stuffed ornaments worth nearly Rs 1.4 lakh into the pockets of his trousers. Just as he was about to leave the flat, Tanish noticed his mother's necklace in Khan's hand and charged towards him and screamed for help. "I couldn't let go of the gold necklace, it means a lot to my mother. Luckily the thief did not assault me," Tanish later told TOI.

Khan panicked, let go of the necklace and started running down the stairs. He bumped into Divya, who was running up the stairs on hearing his son's screams, on the second floor. Divya, along with neighbor Swati Khargaonkar, caught hold of the suspect's bag and raised an alarm. By then Tanish rushed down and was shocked to see Khan drag his mother down the staircase even as she held on to his bag. On reaching the first floor, Khan let go of the bag, but residents caught him in the building compound. They beat him, tied him up and handed him over to the Virar police. Divya sustained injuries on the hands, said the police.

The building does not have closed-circuit television cameras or a security guard, said the police.

Inspector Anil Dabde said they have registered a case of theft against Khan, who has seven cases against him at police stations in Palghar district, and recovered all the ornaments stolen from the Mahadiks' flat. The Virar police plan to issue a letter of appreciation to Tanish.

Read this story in Bengali

