Cop arrest one for Nerul businessman murder

The police have arrested a 36-year-old man from Nerul in connection with the murder of the businessman whose body was found near a graveyard in sector 4, two weeks ago.

Three more suspects who were also involved in the crime, however, managed to escape to West Bengal and the police are now on the lookout for them.

The deceased, Amirul Gazi, 30, ran an online lottery business in Nerul. He went missing on March 10 and his body was found at an isolated spot next morning. It was later revealed that his murderers took away his bike and gold ornaments worth Rs64,000 after killing him.

"Three persons, Salim, Janarul and Dablu, who also stayed in the same area as with the victim, went missing just after the incident and we suspected them to be involved in the murder. The victim's business partner, Mujibur Rehman Shaikh, informed us that the trio had gone to their native places in West Bengal on the day of the murder. Shaikh also volunteered to help us in finding them as he was also from the same place. We immediately left for West Bengal taking Shaikh along with us," said NG Majge, police inspector from Nerul police station.

The police conducted raids at four to five places along the Indo-Bangla border in West Bengal, but could not nab the suspects. Finally, a week later, they returned to Mumbai empty-handed.

"During our raids in West Bengal, we learnt that Shaikh had been in touch with the suspects all along, and even informed them about the raids beforehand. We, however, did not ask him anything about it in West Bengal," Majge said.

After reaching Mumbai when police checked Shaikh's call data records (CDR), it was revealed that he had been in constant touch with the three suspects before and after the murder. "Based on circumstantial evidences, we arrested Shaikh on Friday morning. He later confessed to the crime during interrogation," Majge said.

"Shaikh had hired the three suspects to rob the deceased of his cash and ornaments on March 10. However, the culprits strangled him to death after taking his valuables and fled. We are now investigating the case to find out if there was any personal enmity between Shaikh and the deceased," said Jagvendrasing Rajput, assistant police inspector from Nerul police station. The police, however, have not been able recover the stolen goods from the suspects' possession so far.

The police have booked Shaikh under sections 302, 397 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced before the judicial court on Friday and has been remanded to police custody for 10 days.