Furious over the renovation work in his neighbour’s flat and the delay by the housing society in fixing a leakage in his apartment, a retired customs officer shot dead a 14-year-old girl in Andheri (West) on Thursday morning.
Harish Maroliya, 60, was killed by a combat team of the Mumbai police, which fired at him immediately thereafter.
The girl, Himani Mehta, a standard IX student of AH Wadia School, was returning home after appearing for her maths exam when she was taken hostage by Maroliya.
Himani paid the price for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, having had no connection with the Dalal family, in whose house the renovation work was going on, additional commissioner of police (western region) Amitabh Gupta said.
“Main nahi chhodoonga yeh ladki ko, tum log nikal jaao yahan se, police ki koi zaroorat nahi hai yahan pe [I will not leave the girl, you people leave from here, the police are not required here],” Maroliya screamed before shooting the girl.
Two police officers were injured in the shooting.
According to the police, tension started building up at 9:30am when six workers and carpenters, who were working in the Dalals' flat on the fourth floor of Saujanya Apartments, entered the building. Maroliya, who was sitting in the garden, got into a heated argument with them.
The watchman of the building, Asif Hussain, alerted Deepak Patni, secretary of the housing society. Ketan Mehta, the victim’s father, was with him. The duo rushed to the building to pacify Maroliya.
But the enraged Maroliya pulled out his revolver and threatened Patni. “He was shouting at the top of his voice and complaining that the committee members had not addressed the problem of leakage in his house,” said Hussain. The police were alerted when he fired twice in the air.
Himani, who was returning home at that point, caught Maroliya’s attention. “He caught her by the collar and threatened to kill her,” said KMM Prasanna, deputy commissioner of police, zone IX.
A large number of onlookers, who had gathered by this time, pleaded with Maroliya to leave the girl alone. Maroliya first obliged and set her free. But he soon changed his mind and followed her into the lift. As soon as the lift reached the third floor, Maroliya dragged Himani into his house and locked himself in.
A team from the local police station and a combat team had reached the spot by then. For more than 15 minutes, they tried to pacify the ex-customs officer and coax him into setting Himani free. “But Maroliya was adamant and asked the police team to leave,” one police officer said.
After 15 minutes, a gunshot was heard from the house, followed by screams from Himani. The police team then broke down the door. “Moraliya fired three rounds in the direction of the police team, injuring two policemen,” the officer said.
In retaliation, one of the constables fired at Maroliya, injuring him in the wrist and neck. Maroliya fell to the floor and the police team entered the house.
“When the team entered, they saw Himani lying on the floor," the officer said. "The bullet had hit her in the back. They immediately moved Himani and Maroliya to Cooper Hospital where they were declared dead on arrival.”
