Mumbai: Crime branch suspects rape in MBBS student kidnapping case

Mumbai crime branchrsquos Unit 09 which is probing the alleged kidnapping of a 22yearold MBBS student in November 2021 suspects that the woman might have been raped before she was allegedly killed at Bandra Bandstand One of the five witnesses reportedly told the cops about overhearing a conversation between the two arrested accused which involved unusual sex and the woman Crime branch officers did not reveal any detailsThe student went missing from Bandra Bandstand on November 29 2021 Investigators arrested two accusedmdashMittu Singh and Abdul Jabbar Ansarimdashlast week Cops have not invoked charges of murder yetSuspicious activitySources in the crime branch said they have found five witnesses who claimed that the behaviour of the arrested accused was suspiciousAlso Read Kidnap case Cops lsquotortured and framedrsquo duo trying to helpThe rocks where she was seen the day she went missing PicAtul KambleOne of the witnesses told midday ldquoThe police officers kept asking me if I had heard any talk about sex They said that they suspect the woman was raped by the arrested accused and that there was some evidence too Some people had overheard their conversation and noticed their suspicious behaviour that night and flagged the same to the copsrdquoA crime branch officer said ldquoAll angles are being probed The fact is that she disappeared in a suspicious manner from Bandstand and she was last seen with the accused Their activities are suspicious which makes it clear that they did something wrong to her after kidnapping herrdquoIt is pertinent to note that the crime branch had on January 14 while seeking remand of Ansari told the court that ldquoboth the accused used objectionable words for the girl on the phone which shows their wrong intentionsrdquoMittu Singh and Abdul Jabbar right the two arrested accused in the caseThe cops have also recorded statements of her family members and a friend to understand why she did not appear for her exams that day and went to Bandra Bandstand from Virar insteadThe womanrsquos brother said ldquoEven we donrsquot know why she didnrsquot appear for her exams Since the past 14 months we with the help of the police have been trying to find what happenedrdquoA crime branch officer said ldquoThese witness statements are very crucial and at this stage we cannot reveal anythingrdquoAccused was with her till 3 amThe cops have also collected CCTV footage of the area which confirmed that the student was at Bandra Bandstand on November 29 2021 Crime branch officer said that they have studied the Internet Protocol Detail Record and call detail report of the woman and found that her number was switched off from 130 pmAs per officers she reached Bandstand at 109 pm and sat on the rocks on the seashore The CCTV cameras on the road captured her roaming in the area Around 1030 pm she went to Meethrsquos Kitchen which is run by Singh and AnsariAs per Singhrsquos statement to the police the woman spent some time at the shop and then went back to the shore opposite Taj Lands End Singh told cops that he sat with her till 3 am and even took a photo around 225 amSources said that Singh is educated and had prepared to deal with the current situation ldquoThe two accused are giving contradictory statements Singh tried to create an alibi by sending a friend request to the woman on Instagram around 402 am He even showed their selfie to cops to evade any suspicion on himrdquo the officer saidPolice said that none of the CCTV cameras has caught her leaving the area and said that if she had died by suicide then her body would have surfaced somewhere ldquoIn the past year we have searched each and every hospital and sent SOS to all over Maharashtra to report if any such body was found anywhere But nothing has been noticed yetrdquo the officer said29 NovDay in 2021 since when the student has been missing