Kolhapur: Elderly woman tied up, robbed in Panhala; police nab two in 24 hours

Panhala police solved a case within just 24 hours in which the hands and mouth of an 80 year old woman were tied up at Mahadikwadi (Panhala taluka) and gold ornaments worth five lakh rupees were robbed from her. Clues from a PhonePe transaction found on a mobile phone and CCTV footage from a cloth shop helped police reach the accused. Nandkishor Sadanand Mahadik (39) and Ramesh Sadashiv Mahadik (28), both residents of Mahadikwadi, have been arrested in the case.

The incident took place between 1 am and 2 am on the night of September 12. Two unidentified men entered the house of Sardar alias Bapu Mahadik in Mahadikwadi. The mouth and hands of the 80 year old woman present in the house were bound with strips of white cloth, and gold bangles, a mangalsutra, earrings and jhumkis worth around five lakh rupees that she was wearing were forcibly removed. The elderly woman was also injured during the incident. A case was registered at Panhala police station.

Given the seriousness of the crime, police scanned CCTV footage from the surrounding villages. A technical investigation was carried out to trace the movements of the accused, but it did not become clear that any suspicious vehicle or outsider had entered the area at the time of the incident. This led police suspicion toward local residents.

Based on local information gathered during the investigation, police questioned Nandkishor Mahadik. He initially denied any involvement in the crime. Police then closely checked his mobile transactions and found that he had made a PhonePe payment at a cloth shop on September 7.

Police then examined the CCTV footage from that cloth shop. The investigation revealed that the cloth Nandkishor had bought from the shop matched the cloth used to tie the elderly woman's hands and mouth at the scene of the crime. This became the most crucial link in the investigation. According to police, when confronted with the evidence, Nandkishor admitted that he had committed the robbery with Ramesh Mahadik's help.

Police then also took Ramesh Mahadik into custody. Gold ornaments weighing around five tolas and worth about five lakh rupees, stolen in the robbery, have been recovered from the two. Assistant Sub-Inspector Suresh Khot is further investigating the case.

The action was carried out under the guidance of Superintendent of Police Nilotpal, Additional Superintendent of Police Annasaheb Jadhav and Shahuwadi Sub-Divisional Police Officer Pravin Gilda, and on information from Police Inspector Lingappa Chaukhande. The investigating team included Assistant Sub-Inspectors Saleem Sanadi, Suresh Khot, Sameer Mulla, Tausif Mulla, Shankar Patil, Sachin Patil, Prakash Patil, Ravindra Kamble, Ganesh Patil, Digambar Chile, Sagar Rohile and Amar Chavan.