Almost three years after starlet Laila Khan and five of her family members were killed, her father Nadir Patel has refused to take custody of their skeletal remains, claiming that the city police has botched up the investigation even as he sought a CBI probe in the case.
Patel also alleged that the real culprits in the case were not held and they have been roaming fearlessly.u00a0
"Sometime back, I told court here, that I will not take custody of the skeletal remains (of my family) as the investigation carried out by the Mumbai police crime branch is very shoddy. Police have botched up the probe due to which real culprits are scot-free now," Patel told PTI here today.
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Mumbai police crime branch had arrested Parvez Tak, stepfather of Laila and chargesheeted him for murdering the actress and five of her family members.
The 924-page chargesheet was filed in October last year in the metropolitan magistrate court by Crime Branch against the Kishtwar-based contractor for killing Laila (30), her mother Shelina (51), elder sister Azmina (32), twin siblings Zara and Imran (25) and cousin Reshma.
Laila Khan
Laila and her family had gone missing from Mumbai in February 2011. A case of kidnapping was registered at the Oshiwara police station here on July 3 on a complaint by her biological father Nadir Patel.
Tak, the third husband of Laila's mother Shelina, had allegedly told investigators that he wiped out the entire family due to their continued reliance on Ashif Sheikh, her second husband, police said.
On the night of February 7, 2011, Tak had a heated argument with Shelina (51) at the family's farmhouse in Igatpuri near Nashik after which he allegedly hit her with a blunt object, causing her death, police said.
As other family members came to her rescue, Tak called Shakir Hussain Wani, whom he had appointed as a watchman two months before the incident, and the two allegedly killed them following a scuffle, they said.
Police have recorded statements of 101 witnesses and nine out of them have identified Tak during the identification parade.
According to investigators, Tak did not like that Sheikh was still maintaining contact with the family and their decision to relocate to Dubai made him feel abandoned as he did not have a passport.
Tearing apart the theory of investigators, Patel claimed, "My Shelina never got re-married and her friend Ashif Sheikh was also part of the conspiracy for monetary benefits. He is freely roaming now due to shabby probe by crime branch." Patel had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court in July, highlighting "loopholes" in the charge sheet filed by the Mumbai Crime Branch and is awaiting the court's response.
Meanwhile, sticking to its probe revelations, a senior crime branch official said, "We did our best in the case. We cannot do anything if Patel does not take custody of his family members' skeletal remains."
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