Thane: After six days of investigation, Bhiwandi City police on Thursday arrested three people, including a transgender for killing a man and attempting to murder a sex worker in Bhiwandi's redlight area.
The arrested accused have been identified as Kasim Shaikh, 29, who is the prime accused, Shivani Ravi Rathod, 30, and Firoj alias Firoza Shaikh, 30, a transgender.
The deceased has been identified as Kashinath Nayak while Anasuya Bardi, 55, a sex worker, suffered severe head injuries. She is in hospital. Both persons were residents of Hanuman Tekdi in Bhiwandi.
On December 6, a murder and attempt to murder case was reported to police. Immediately, police began their investigation. Based on CCTV footage of Hanuman Tekdi, known as a redlight area, they found Firoza and Shivani roaming in the vicinity.
Both were detained and during interrogation, they revealed the name of the prime accused, Kasim. Later, police arrested Kasim who is a historysheeter. The accused Firoza was in contact with Anasuya and she knew the latter possesed cash and gold ornaments, said a police officer.
Senior Inspector Subhash Kokate from Bhiwandi city police station said, "The prime accused Kasim hatched a plan to rob Anasuya. Therefore, he posed as a customer a d approached her.
The deceased, Kashinath, was living with Anasuya and on that day, he was asleep on another bed in the room. Anasuya and Kasim were drinking. Kasim mixed wine in Anasuya's beer without informing her and she began to feel drowsy."
"At midnight, Kasim opened the door and called out to Shivani and Firoza. The trio then began looking for the cash and gold ornaments. Disturbed by the sounds, Kashinath awoke and the trio assaulted him. Later, Shivani and Kasim smashed his head with a stone.
Anasuya heard Kashinath's cries and was roused from her stupor. She got up to help him when they attacked her from behind with the stone. They decamped with the cash and gold," Kokate added. The accused will be produced in court on Friday, police said.
