Malwani triple murder case: Couple, aide arrested; planned murder to steal 'huge amount' kept in victims' cupboard

With the arrest of three persons from Valsad railway station in Gujarat, the city crime branch has claimed to have solved the sensational triple murder in Malwani, wherein a 50-year-old woman and two of her grandchildren were stabbed to death in sleep.

Following specific information about the presence of the three accused persons, two men and one woman, at Valsad station, a crime branch team rushed there and arrested them on Saturday. The trio – identified as Salman Akbar Shaikh (26), Mufeed Salman alias Shaikh (24) and Shabina alias Anam Shaikh (23) – was waiting to catch a train in order to escape when the cops swooped down on them.

According to the police, after killing Babli Shaw (50) and her grandchildren Aryan Shaikh (13) and Saniya Shaikh (10) in their Malwani residence, the accused trio had fled the spot from the backdoor. Though their motive was to steal a "huge" amount of money which Shaw had made after selling some plots in West Bengal, the killers couldn't take anything from the victims' home as one of them got seriously injured while executing the murders, the police said.

According to crime branch officers, Shaw was allegedly involved in several illegal activities, including sale of liquor without permit and running of flesh trade from home. After the death of Shaw's daughter Afsa, her husband Ismail Shaikh remarried, leaving behind their kids with Shaw.

Accused Shabina knew Shaw for the past eight months as she herself was into prostitution. Shabina also knew about the sound financial condition of Shaw, who had rented out the top two floors of her residence while herself living on the ground floor. Shaw was also a private moneylender, earning decent amounts in interest.

"After Shabina got to know about Shaw's land deals, she made a plan to kill her and take away the money which the latter had kept inside her cupboard. Shabina then roped in her husband Mufeed Salman and his friend Salman Shaikh to execute her plan. In the wee hours of Thursday, the trio entered Shaw's house from the backdoor and started stabbing the woman who was fast asleep. Shaw, who was stabbed multiple times with a kitchen knife, died on the spot. While killing Shaw, Salman Shaikh received a deep cut on his palm. Owing to the commotion, Aryan and Saniya, who were sleeping close to Shaw, woke up and recognised the trio. Since the kids saw everything, the trio stabbed them too and escaped," said Sashikant Satav, deputy commissioner of police, crime branch (unit-1).

Satav added, "During the probe, the police found a blood-stained knife and splotches of blood on the walls. The wounded accused had apparently tried to clean his hand on the wall. This gave us a hint and we immediately sent our teams to Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Pune to check if anyone with a deep cut on the palm had come for treatment to any of the hospitals there. We later got the information that a hospital in Valsad had just discharged such a person. We soon traced the accused trio and arrested them from Valsad station."

Another crime branch officer said, after committing the crime, the trio planned to flee to Ajmer. They came to Borivali station and boarded a train. However, on the way, Salman Shaikh's condition deteriorated due to excessive blood loss and he became unconscious. This forced the other two to rush him to a Valsad hospital.

"Nothing has been stolen from Shaw's residence. The accused persons are being questioned and further probe is on. Both Mufeed Salman and Salman Shaikh hailed from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh and were working as rickshaw drivers in Mumbai." said the officer.