According to police, Saira Sultan Mujahid was alone at her house in 275, Guruwar Peth when a veiled woman along with three masked men forced themselves in and attacked her with blades.

``My husband and kids were away,'' said Saira,``When the woman came into the house and asked for some water. Immediately three others came in and started brandishing blades and asked for all the valuables. They also attacked me with blades.'' According to her husband, Sultan, this is the first time that miscreants had ever attacked anyone in the neighbourhood. ``We are surprised how they managed to come in broad daylight and our house in on a street that is very crowded in the afternoon. My wife could not even cry out for help as the men were carrying blades.''

Police inspector in charge of Khadak police station, V R Pawar agreed that this was the first time that such an incident had occurred right in the heart of the city. ``We were surprised that the culprits were able to do this in such a crowded area and that too in broad daylight.''

Razaq, a rickshaw driver who had parked his vehicles across the road when the incident occurred said that he did not notice anything suspicious. ``I only came to know when the police came.'' In the evening deputy commissioner of police, (Zone I) Ajit Patil also visited the scene of crime.

Foiled: A major burglary attempt was foiled by three members of a family when they stood up to armed thieves who had broken into their house in the early hours of Thursday morning.

According to the Bund Garden police Gautam Pancholi (18) and his parents were awakened in the middle of the night when thieves broke into the house by breaking the front door lock. The men who were masked and armed with swords, knives and rods, asked the family to part with their valuables.

Not taken in by their threats, the three started shouting and tried to get hold of the culprits. In the scuffle Gautam and his parents sustained injuries but managed to scare off the thieves. Police believe that culprits were part of the same gang that had broken into a house a few days back in Agarkar Nagar and employed the same modus operandi. The Bundgarden police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and are investigating.