Ladies bag leads to murder

A person allegedly stabbed a 20-year-old man and injured his brothers on Monday night at a leather bag manufacturing unit in Dharavi. The victims were taken to Sion hospital where Muqadar Ansari, 20, succumbed to his injuries. His brothers, Mohammed, 25, and Shakil, 35, are recuperating.

Muqadar Ansari was stabbed at 10.30 pm after Mohammed failed to return a leather purse which the assailant Zuber, 20, had given him. Zuber and Ansari brothers run leather bag manufacturing units in Dharavi. Mohammed said, “Last week, we offered him a contract to manufacture 30 leather bags for which he was paid an advance of Rs1,500.”

Mohammed alleged that on September 14, Zuber brought a leather purse at his unit and asked him to sell it. They struck a deal for Rs325. “On September 17, Zuber asked for the status of the purse. I promised to pay him Rs325 back, which he refused to take. Instead, he demanded Rs1,000 for the purse. When I refused, he asked me to return the purse, which was not possible,” said Mohammed.

On Monday, Zuber told Mohammed that two persons had stolen the six bags that he was manufacturing for him. Mohammed went to Zuber’s unit to settle the issue, but he was not available. “Later in the night, Zuber and four others barged into Ansari’s unit and attacked the three brothers with sticks and scissors. The men fled when neighbours intervened,” said police inspector Sridhar Hanchate. “Investigations reveal that the bag Zuber gave to Mohammed was stolen,” added Hanchate.