Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch Unit 5 has apprehended three people from Govandi for allegedly strangling a 23-year-old youth to death and dumping his body at the MTNL Junction in Kurla, near the Mithi River.
The victim, Aman Abdul Shaikh’s body was found on January 5. According to the police, at first, a case of accidental death was registered at Kurla police station. Later, the Crime Branch took over the case suspecting it was a case of murder, several teams were formed to investigate the matter. During this, they found out about a missing case registered at Shivaji Nagar police station by the victim’s family members.
The three accused, identified as Nafees Khan alias Takqi, the primary accused, and his associates and partners-in-crime are Mukesh Pal (23) and Mohammad Shafiq (25) – all residents of Govandi, and autorickshaw drivers by profession.
After committing the crime, accused returned to their normal lives
The victim’s sister, after Aman didn’t return home for several days, approached the primary accused, Takqi, to help her find Aman. The police said that after murdering Aman and disposing of his body, all the three accused returned to their normal lives. So much so, Takqi even pretended to help Aman's sister lodging the missing complaint and also helped the investigating police officers by providing statements. All of Takqi’s techniques shattered to the ground when the police procured Takqi’s Call Data Record (CDR) which showed his presence at the crime spot, at Mithi River on the day his body was found. They also found footage from a CCTV camera where Takqi was driving the auto towards the spot, which had Aman’s body inside along with his two accomplices.
Illicit affair
After arresting the trio, during the interrogation, Takqi confessed that he believed Aman had an illicit affair with his wife. Hence, on January 4, they called Aman to an isolated place where they asked him about the affair. After a verbal scuffle between the four, Takqi strangled Aman, killing him on the spot. Later the trio took Aman’s body and dumped it during the early hours of the morning on January 5. The trio believed Aman's body would disappear into the Mithi River and nobody would suspect them since they live in Govandi, the police said.
Police found some bullets, and a local pistol from the three, which has been seized as evidence, along with the autorickshaw they used for crime.
