Robbery motive suspected behind couple's murder

mumbai: barely a month before their son's wedding, an elderly couple was brutally murdered by unknown persons at their residence at yogi guru kripa building, m.h.b. colony, kandivli (west) on friday night. the police suspect robbery to be the motive. their son, jitesh (28), who works for a tv channel, was not at home when his parents, lalit rajdeo (56) and indira rajdeo (50), were murdered.the duo was attacked with a sharp weapon on the head and neck. their pet pomeranian, which put up resistance with the killers, was also killed. the assailants ransacked the bedroom cupboards and escaped with the cash and jewellery. some of the ornaments were recently purchased by the rajdeos for jitesh's wedding scheduled for december 1. the police suspect the involvement of certain carpenters in the murders. ``the rajdeos had hired a carpenters to make furniture in the house. after working for a few days they did not report for work. some of them are also missing after the incident,'' an officer said. the police have launched a search for the missing carpenters. lalit rajdeo had retired from bank of india in march this year. he has two sons, jitesh and jatin, the latter being in canada. said madhubhai thakker, a cousin of the deceased : ``it is a gruesome killing. the state home department should take the case on a priority and solve it at the earliest. senior citizens in mumbai feel insecure and vulnerable when such murders are reported.'' it is the 12th killing of a senior citizen in mumbai this year. a couple of months ago, the kandivli police solved the murder of an elderly couple in less than 24 hours. the duo, shankar gajwani (68) and his wife kamini (65), was stabbed at their ground floor flat in sunita apartments in dahanukar wadi, kandivli (west) on september 3. the prime suspect, sunil dhanraj (31), a laundryman, was arrested along with his associate, kantilal rathod (30), the next day. the police recovered rs 3,000 in cash and ornaments worth about rs 10,000 from them. incidentally, the daughter of the deceased had helped the police in tracing the killers. said a senior officer : ``a majority of senior citizens' murders were solved after family members, relatives and friends provided us with a clue.'' but there are quite a number of cases where police have been unable to solve the murders. in august, a 73-year-old man, temoras patel, was found strangled to death at his residence on the ground in pavwala building in d.b. marg area on wednesday night. the murder is still unsolved. on june 18, 60-year-old varsha chokshi was found murdered at her bungalow in santa cruz. the police claim to have identified the suspects, but no arrests have been made so far. earlier on may 5, vile parle resident ganesh shirwadekar (86) had died of shock when three persons entered his flat in parleshwar society with robbery as their intent. he died in front of his bed-ridden wife, kamal (77). on february 6, 80-year-old jeroo dalal was murdered at her flat in chateau marine building, near marine drive. the police had detained a domestic worker in the case. but the domestic was found innocent and subsequently let off. the police are still to solve the triple murders at hughes road in december last year. three members of a family__banubai avari (93), her son rusi (75) and daughter-in-law roshan (73) were found bludgeoned to death by an unknown person at their second floor flat in wadia house on december 22. some of the other sensational killings remain unsolved including that of 88-year-old kishni ramachandani in her seventh floor flat at jal darshan near priyadarshini park on june 11 1999 and retired professor mehroo jussawala in her cama terrace house at altamount road on february 17, 1999.