Unknown person fires at social worker's house in South Mumbai

An unidentified person allegedly fired one round at a housemaid working at a social worker's house in a south Mumbai building today, police said.

The accused had asked the domestic help for her employer Naina Katpalia (66), who runs an NGO 'Citispace', and before she could answer, he fired one round, and fled from the spot along with his aide, who was waiting inside the building's compound.

According to police, the person, aged between 40 to 45 years had pressed the doorbell of Katpalia's first floor apartment in Swastik Court building near Eros cinema at around 6.45am. "Soma Sinha, the domestic help, had opened one of the two safety grill doors, when the man asked for Naina. However, before she could reply to him, he fired one round from his country-made revolver. Fortunately, the bullet hit the grill," S Garud, inspector of Marine Drive police station said.

The man immediately ran downstairs and fled from the scene, along with his aide aged between 25 to 30 years, towards Oval playground.

"We have recovered the country-made revolver and two live rounds," he said, adding they were trying to ascertain the fingerprints of the accused.

The reason for this attempt to murder is not yet known, he said, adding that Katpalia had neither received any direct threats or any threatening calls earlier. Further investigations were on, he said.

Katpalia has been associated with Citispace for over a decade and has been fighting to preserve open spaces in the metropolis. He said, "I do not have any idea of the incident; it came out of the blue."

She said, "We are peace-loving people and this could be to frighten us," she said.

Citispace has been demanding for a hawker's policy, and the matter is in the supreme court, she added.

She, along with her team, has also been fighting for the rights of slum dwellers shifted from old houses to the new Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme buildings.