Mumbai Crime Branch arrests two for allegedly murdering a 78-year-old man in Nagpada

Mumbai crime branch nabs two accused (Pic/Special arrangement)

Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested two accused who allegedly murdered a 78-year-old Nagpada resident. Police officials stated that both the accused who have been arrested are first-time offenders.

Earlier on April 20, the victim, Mohammed Iqbal Saliya, was allegedly stabbed to death at his residence at around 6:30 pm, triggering an intensive investigation.

Police officials, while briefing about the incident, said that a parallel probe by the Crime Branch using technical surveillance and human intelligence helped identify two suspects - a 29-year-old man and his 25-year-old associate. Following the crime, the duo reportedly switched off their mobile phones and moved across multiple states in an attempt to evade arrest.

Accused tracked in Nagpur

Acting on specific intelligence inputs, a Crime Branch team tracked the accused to Nagpur, where they were apprehended from the Bada Taj Bagh area on Friday, April 24.

Investigations revealed that the prime accused is the nephew of alleged gangsters Sadiq Kalia and Arif Kalia, who were killed in separate police encounters in 1997 and 2002.

Police said the accused suspected that Saliya had acted as an informer in those encounters and had been harbouring a long-standing grudge.

Driven by this belief, he, along with his accomplice, allegedly carried out the fatal attack, officials added.

The operation was conducted by Crime Branch Unit 3 under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Raj Tilak Roshan, along with senior officers, including Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti and Joint CP (Crime) Lakhmi Gautam.

Both accused are currently in police custody, and further investigation into the case is underway.