Mumbai ,March 18: A minor tiff over noisy renovation work in a neighbour’s house turned into a violent drama in a conservative residential society in Andheri, leaving a minor and a senior citizen dead, and two policemen injured.
According to eye-witness accounts, Harish Moralia (60), a retired excise officer staying in B wing of Saujanya Apartments near Navrang Cinema, Andheri (W), was reportedly bothered by the ruckus due to renovation work in the Dalal residence above him and would have regular arguments over the noise.
The matter reached boiling point on Thursday when at around 9.30 am Moralia stood at the gate and stopped a carpenter on his way to the Dalals’ house.
Moralia refused to let the carpenter inside and demanded to see an identity card and other such documents. Seeing the argument, the Dalals, as well as the society’s secretary, Mr Deepak Patni, came down to investigate. Moralia, however was adamant, and was soon in the middle of a heated argument with other residents. When Moralia realised that he was alone against all the others, he whipped out a revolver from his pocket and fired twice in the air.
Mr Patni’s son Romil, a student of Mithibai College, said, “I was in my house on the fifth floor when I heard two gunshots. I knew that my father had gone down to see what all the ruckus was about and, worried for him, I rushed downstairs. Moralia was surrounded by other residents and arguing loudly. At that moment Himani Mehta (14), who stays on the fourth floor next to the Dalals, returned from school.” “Moralia was arguing loudly and threatening to go to court against what he termed as harassment. Out of curiosity Himani slowed down near the crowd in the building compound to see what the ruckus was about and Moralia suddenly grabbed her. Before anyone could realise what was happening, Moralia held Himani in a vice-like grip and was backing away towards the building’s entrance. Without stopping, he went straight up to his third-floor residence, dragging the girl along with him, and locked the door from inside,” said the on-duty building security guard, Abeed Hussain.
“We all followed Moralia and were knocking on the door, trying to get him to open it, when we heard the sound of one more shot being fired. It scared all of us and we called the police,” Romil said.
Himani’s father, Mr Ketan Mehta, called up Moralia’s residence and spoke to his wife, who was in the house the whole time. Moralia was listening on the other end but refused to budge.
Meanwhile, the police control room relayed the information to the combat van of the DN Nagar division manned by a police sub-inspector, three constables and a driver, who happened to be in the area and arrived within minutes.
Oshiwara police station police sub-inspector Vaibhav Patil and DN Nagar police station constable Naresh Phalke went up to the third floor armed with semi-automatic pistols and asked Moralia to open up and surrender. However, one more shot was fired inside the Moralia residence, after which they broke down the door.
According to both the police and eye-witnesses, Moralia began firing before the policemen could enter. The police had to return fire, and by the time the encounter ended, both Himani and Moralia were dead. Both policemen had sustained bullet injuries in their arms.
While Himani and Moralia were declared dead before admission to Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle, the policemen were rushed to the Brahmakumari hospital in Andheri where they underwent surgery. Mr Patil had a bullet removed from his left arm. Both policemen are now out of danger, doctors at the hospital said.
Moralia was an excise official who was later transferred to customs. He had obtained premature retirement and had been living in Andheri with his wife for the last 24 years, the police said.
Residents said Moralia was known to be short-tempered and had gotten into arguments with other residents in the past. He used to stay with his wife, and had two daughters, one of whom is married and the other stays separately.
Himani was a Class 9 student of Wadia School in Andheri and was returning after appearing for her exams. Her relatives alleged that this was not the first time Moralia had caused panic with his gun.
“Himani had no idea what was happening when she walked inside the compound. Her stepmother Asha is inconsolable. The doctors have asked us to stay close to Asha, but we find ourselves unable to help much in the midst of all the medical and police procedures,” Himani’s relative, Mr Chandrakant Mehta, said.
Mr Amitabh Gupta, additional commissioner, west region, said, “Only one bullet was fired by our officers, while we are still determining how many bullets Moralia fired. The exact sequence of events is being verified and we are also investigating allegations about Moralia threatening residents with his gun several times in the past.”
Gautam S. Mengle and Priya Prabhakaran
