Murder trail leads cops to prostitution den

The solution of a murder case has led to the police uncovering a prostitution racket involving aspiring models and actors.

Officials at the Kurla police station arrested three people on June 25 for the murder of one Rajesh Krishnan at the GSK hotel on April 24, 2006.

Dnyaneshwar Fadtare, deputy commissioner of Police (zone V) said, “During investigations we learnt that one Wasim Sheikh had arrived at the hotel with a model clad in a burkha (who had been featured in a popular soft drink commercial). She had signed in as Anjali in the hotel register.”

Wasim and the model stayed at the hotel the night before the murder. A price was negotiated with Krishnan for Anjali to “grant sexual favours”, according to the police.

“During the negotiations, Sheikh realised that Krishnan was carrying a lot of cash and decided to kill him. The murder came to light on April 28 when Krishnan’s body was found in his room with his mouth gagged. He was strangled and had been robbed of all his valuables and cash,” Fadtare said.

On June 25, 2006 Sheikh was arrested from Kurla while his accomplices in the crime Sarfraz Khan and Ibrahim Abbas were caught in Ambernath.

All three are small-time models with contacts in filmdom and with teleserial makers. They are believed to have supplied women to people in both the film and television industries.

“On Wednesday, another accused Mateen Khan, aka Anil Thakur, who is a Bhojpuri model was nabbed from Naigaon in Vasai.

While we have confirmed the association of the accused with a large number of aspiring models and actors, we are yet to conclusively establish their role in the prostitution racket.

“We are seeking to invoke sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act against the accused in the case along with that of murder,” Fadtare said.