The central unit of the crime branch arrested a 40-year-old watchman for allegedly killing a 33-year-old maid and dumping her body in a creek in Koparkhairane. They were having a love affair and the deceased was putting pressure on him to marry her, said police.
The accused was identified as Rajkumar Baburam Pal, a resident of sector 29 in Vashi and a native of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
On February 12 evening, the Koparkhairane police found the body of a woman at a creek under its jurisdiction. The initial investigation revealed that she was murdered with a dupatta and later her body was dumped. The Koparkhairane police registered a case of murder under sections 302 and 201 of IPC on February 13 and started an investigation.
Meanwhile, the central unit carried out a simultaneous investigation and checked missing person’s complaints in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Mumbai and other parts of the state. Finally, the police found a missing person’s complaint at the Trombe police station. The husband of the missing woman identified the body as his wife. The deceased was identified as Sayda Banu Hasmi,33, a resident of Mankhurd and she was working as a maid in a society in Jui Nagar.
The police checked the call details of the woman and zeroed at a number on which there were frequent calls. Finally, the police, based on technical analysis, caught Pal. “Pal was a watchman at the same society where the deceased woman was in the housekeeping. They were having affair and the deceased was pressurizing him to marry her,” said Amit Kale DCP (Crime). He added that Pal refused to marry saying he was already married and his family including two children reside in his hometown.
However, the woman continued to put pressure and on the evening of the incident, they had an argument. “They had gone Koparkhairane for work where Pal killed her using her dupatta and dumped the body in the creek,” said DCP Kale.
