On Tuesday, fishermen discovered the girl’s body floating near Colaba. Upon linking the discovery to the missing complaint lodged by the mother, police escalated their investigation and found clues on the suspect leading to his arrest, an official said
The suspect in Antop Hill child murder case in police custody and the team of police officials who solved the case. Pic/arranged by Aishwarya Iyer
A man from Antop Hill area in eastern Mumbai was arrested for allegedly killing his 4-year-old stepdaughter and then dumping her body in sea, police said on Wednesday.
The man identified as Imran Shaikh, 34, was held by the police for allegedly abducting and murdering his 4-year-old stepdaughter, an official said.
The child’s body was recovered from the waters near Colaba’s Sassoon Dock barely hours after her disappearance.
According to police, Shaikh, who had recently married the child’s mother, Nazia Imran Shaikh, harboured deep resentment towards the child as she would frequently contact her biological father, requesting his visits, which reportedly angered Shaikh. He viewed the little girl as an obstacle between him and his wife, leading to tensions within the household.
On Monday night, Shaikh allegedly abducted the girl from her home at Antop Hill, took her to the shores near Bhaucha Dhakka, where he strangled her to death and dumped her body into the sea to eliminate evidence, police said.
By the next morning, Tuesday, fishermen discovered the girl’s body floating near Colaba. Upon linking the discovery to the missing complaint lodged by the mother, police escalated their investigation. Shaikh had gone into hiding soon after the matter surfaced.
Over 162 CCTV cameras across Mumbai and Thane were scanned meticulously to trace his movements.
“We found his trail moving across multiple places, but he was carefully masking his location,” said an officer from the investigation team. “Eventually, our intel pointed to Lower Parel, where Shaikh was preparing to flee via a bus from Worli Naka. As soon as we got a precise location, our teams rushed to Worli and nabbed him before he could escape,” the officer added.
Upon interrogation, Shaikh allegedly confessed to the crime, admitting his hatred for the child drove him to commit the murder. The case has been registered under charges of kidnapping, murder, and destruction of evidence under relevant BNS Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.
He will be produced before a court, a police official said.
The case was solved by a team of police officials within 12 hours of the crime coming to light was led by the Antop Hill police under the guidance of Zone DCP R. Ragasudha.
Further investigations are underway.
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