Air Force officer chases down robber who looted electronics store in Sion

Ratankumar Sharma

Ratankumar Sharma was on his morning walk when he came across a robbery in progress at the Sion-based Croma showroom.

Instead of remaining a mute spectator, the 54-year-old junior officer, who works at the air force office at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), decided to give chase, and managed to catch one of the four culprits.

"The alert air force officer showed bravery, pursued the accused and nabbed one - Sabber Harun Shaikh (30) - despite being attacked with a knife by one of the miscreants," said a cop from Sion police station.

Shaikh and his three associates who had come on two bikes had managed to steal 36 cellphones from the store.

According to police officials, the incident took place around 5 am yesterday.

Two of the offenders had kept the two watchmen seated at knifepoint, while the other two sneaked inside and stole the handsets.

The guards, along with the complainant, Patangrao Jadhav, managed to save Sharma from being grievously injured. Later, a patrolling van took Shaikh to the police station.

Sharma's son Praveen said, "My family and I live in Pune, but because of this incident I had to come to Mumbai. My father has ended up with some injuries near his eyes, and has been suffering from severe chest pain since the episode."

"I was on my morning walk, when I heard cries for help. I ran behind the four perpetrators, caught one of them, and hit the others a few times. But I suffered some internal injuries in the episode," Sharma told mid-day.