Murdered Ghatkopar woman's son detained

Police conduct panchnama and collect evidence in Vidyavihar where a woman's headless and legless body was found. File pic

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to crack the murder case of a woman whose torso was found in Ghatkopar last month has claimed to have solved it. The police detained 25-year-old Sohail Sheikh from Kirol Village, Ghatkopar West, on Wednesday afternoon. The deceased is the mother of Sohail. She was reportedly upset over his joblessness and used to complain about it. Sohail allegedly murdered his mother on the evening of December 28 after both had a fight over his drinking problem.

The woman's mutilated torso was found on the morning of December 30 near the state transport workshop in Ghatkopar. A day later, the police found both the legs and hands of the deceased in a garbage dump near Fatima High School in Vidyavihar.

The special team that was searching across Kurla, Sakinaka and Powai for the remaining body parts found the woman's head on January 5. The head, wrapped in a blanket, was found near Kurla railway station next to the tracks.

Several teams were then formed to identify the woman. One of the teams had gone door-to-door in Kirol village, barely 500 metres from the spot where the torso was found. Neighbours told the police that one woman was missing from her home for several days. The police kept a close eye on the house. On Wednesday afternoon, the cops nabbed Shaikh.

"We are yet to interrogate him fully, but the basic information we have gathered is that Sohail was living with his mother who used to work as a maid," said an officer on condition of anonymity. "Sohail used to regularly quarrel with her over money and joblessness. On Sunday night, after they had another fight, Sohail strangled her to death," the officer added.

"When Sohail realised that his mother had died, he decided to dispose of the body and started chopping it up. He disposed of the torso first, then the legs and head," said another officer. DCP (Zone 7) Akhilesh Kumar Singh clarified that the interrogation of the suspect was on and no arrests had been made yet.

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