Mumbai: Government railway police, who had arrested a man, Mohammad Aslam Shaikh, 47, on January 1 for pushing off a woman from a moving train last month, have learnt that Shaikh had murdered a 40-year-old woman in the ladies coach of the Bhuj-Dadar Superfast Express in December 2018.
Moreover, the probe further revealed that Shaikh had sexually assaulted a senior citizen on board a long distance train in an attempt to rob her.
A polio-afflicted woman commuter, Nagma Ansari, who was travelling on wheelchair was thrown off a moving Gujarat Express by a robber when she resisted his bid to rob and assault her in the compartment for the disabled on December 13.
Police said when Ansari had boarded the Gujarat Express at 3.30 pm at Dadar station, Shaikh got into the disabled coach and began closing the doors and windows. He later demanded her valuables, and on being resisted, he dragged Ansari to the door and pushed her off the train.
Ansari was rushed to the hospital, where her left leg was amputated and she underwent a series of surgeries, after which her sister lodged a complaint.
In her statement, Ansari described Shaikh’s appearance, which had a striking resemblance to an accused, who had sexually assaulted and robbed a senior citizen, Mansi Kelkar, 62, on an Ahmedabad-Mumbai passenger train on November 14, last year, when she was alone in the women’s coach. Police called Kelkar for verification, who identified Shaikh as her robber, thus putting things in perspective.
Police immediately laid a trap after receiving information about his whereabouts and arrested Shaikh from Dadar, as soon as he arrived from a Gujarat Mail train on January 1. During interrogation, Shaikh confessed of having played a role in the murder of a 40-year-old homemaker from Gujarat, Deriya Devi Chaudhary, who was found murdered in the ladies coach of the Bhuj-Dadar Superfast Express on December 7 in 2018.
Earlier, police had suspect robbery, probably as a gold necklace she usually wore was missing, along with cash, which turned out to be true.
Chaudhary’s murder had spread terror across the city as her body was found covered with a saree, and was undetected for over a year. Police had scrutinised CCTV footage at Borivli and Dadar stations to find out who entered and exited the coach, but had no leads.
Police inspector Uttam Sonawane said, “We have already found Shaikh’s role in three cases— robbery, attempt to murder and murder— and are trying to ascertain if he had committed any more crimes in the past.
Shaikh is unmarried and is suspected to be mentally disturbed and inclined to commit crimes to get validation. We are likely to refer him for a psychological evaluation.”
