Crime hounds Kashimira, deaf-mute man robbed

MUMBAI: A hearing- and speech- impaired man has become the latest victim of a gang notorious for violently assaulting pedestrians and motorists before robbing them of their valuables on the stretch of highway between Dahisar toll plaza and Kashimira.

Pradeep Gangadin Gupta (31), hearing- and speech- impaired since birth, resides in Dahisar and works as a data entry operator at Virar. A bike-borne man waylaid Mr Gupta, assaulted him, and forced him to withdraw Rs 4,000 from the ATM and hand it over to him.

According to the complaint registered by Mr Gupta’s father, Mr Gupta had gone for a party with his friends in Kashimira. While waiting for an auto-rickshaw near Thakur Mall at around 2 am, an unidentified man stopped his bike near him. Assuming that the bike-borne stranger wanted to help him, Mr Gupta sought help with sign language. Much to his shock however, the man got off from his bike and showered Mr Gupta with a volley of kicks and punches. After snatching Mr Gupta’s mobile phone and purse containing a debit card, the assailant got Mr Gupta to withdraw Rs 4,000 and hand it over to him under threat of dire consequences.

The next day, a terrified Mr Gupta revealed his ordeal to his father who immediately accompanied him to the police station and registered a complaint. A case under sections 392 and 323 of the IPC has been registered against the yet-to-be identified accused. The stretch where Mr Gupta was attacked is notorious for such activities, be it late night drunken brawls involving arms, break-ins, eve-teasing, and roadside prostitution.