A 23-year-old man, accused of killing an autorickshaw driver earlier this month, has admitted to the police that committed another murder last year and disposed of the body in a canal Navi Mumbai, said official, PTI reported.
An officer from the Shivaji Nagar police station confirmed on Wednesday that the accused, along with his two accomplices, was apprehended for the murder of a 23-year-old autorickshaw driver. The trio allegedly strangled the autorickshaw driver and dumped his body in the Mithi River in the Kurla area of Mumbai. They were arrested on January 12, reported PTI.
According to Hindustan Times, crime branch officials investigated and found that the primary accused, Nafis Khan (36), had planned Amaan Shaikh's murder with two accomplices because he believed the victim was having an affair with his wife. Khan was previously externed from the city for two years and has cases of robbery, rape, and rioting lodged against him. The other two accused were identified as Mukesh Pal, 25, and Mohammad Saquib, 23. Both are autorickshaw drivers and all three live in the Govandi area.
The police also confirmed that the body of the deceased, Amaan Shaikh, was discovered on January 5 close to a bridge in the Bandra Kurla Complex, according to the police. After the body was fished out, the Kurla Police filed an accidental death report (ADR). After conducting a parallel investigation, the Crime Branch Unit 5 discovered that the victim's description was identical to the missing person complaint that had been filed the day before at Shivaji Nagar police station.
According to news agency PTI, upon further investigation, it was confirmed by the police that one of the associates, also an autorickshaw driver from Govandi, disclosed details about a separate crime committed in October of the previous year. These three accused had allegedly killed a 24-year-old man due to a monetary dispute and discarded the body in a drain in Navi Mumbai.
In this regard, a new case of murder has been registered and a probe launched into it, the official said.