Headless body case: 2021’s most chilling murder solved after 13 months

Saniya Shaikh the woman whose headless body was found in a trolley bag on Vasairsquos Bhuigaon beach on July 26 last year had allegedly been in the crosshairs of her husband and inlaws who wanted to hand over her daughter to her childless sisterinlaw To date the victimrsquos husband his elder brother his father and his brotherinlaw have been arrested in the grisly murder caseDuring their ongoing interrogation the accused revealed to the Vasai police that they had tied Saniyarsquos hands and legs drowned her in a tub of water strangled her and to make sure she was dead her husband Asif and fatherinlaw Hanif decapitated herAlso read Mumbai Crime Maid her tantrik aide loot senior citizen of over Rs 15 lakhThe bag in which her body was found last year PicsHanif PatelldquoInitially Asif started to slit her throat but after a few minutes he gave up and fainted but his father took over and finished the jobrdquo said the police In a bid to conceal her identity the killers used an electric trimmer to shear off her long hair said an officer privy to the investigationldquoThere was a mole on her upper lip He thought if it were removed her identity would be permanently hidden even if the head were found by the police So Asif scooped it off before stuffing the head into a plastic bag which he disposed of in the Khaniwade creek He rode pillion while his elder brother Yaseen ferried him via bike to the siterdquo said an officerAfter throwing the head into the creek from the MumbaiAhmedabad highway the brothers returned home said another officerThe bloodchilling incident took place on July 21 2021 which happened to be Bakra Eid The officer said ldquoAsif had called his brotherinlaw Yusuf a cab driver who lives in Mumbra requesting him to bring his fourwheeler so that the body could be disposed of easily After Yusuf came they stuffed the corpse into a trolley bag and drove to the creekrdquoAsif Shaikh in police custody PicsHanif PatelThe accused then allegedly cleaned the bloodsplattered floor and changed their clothes They also celebrated the festival in the evening and their main bone of contention was eliminated as they all wanted to hand over the baby girl Amaira to Yusuf said the officerldquoIt was a planned murder because on the day Saniya was killed her inlaws had sent Amaira to Mumbra to celebrate the festival with her aunt the wife of Yusufrdquo said senior inspector Kalyanrao Karpe of Vasai police stationThe deceasedrsquos uncle Javed Shaikh told midday that after Amaira was born her inlaws would insist that Saniya give her daughter to her sisterinlaw ldquoThey would always pressurise her and tried to snatch her baby girl During the pandemic when Asif was stuck in Dubai Hanif assaulted Saniya in Nalasopara She even approached the Achole police station but after the intervention of relatives no case was registeredrdquo said JavedAsif and Saniya ShaikhSaniyarsquos parents passed away when she was a child and she was brought up by her uncle in the Belgaum district of Karnataka Javed said ldquoWe last spoke to her on July 8 2021 as her grandmother passed away that day We had been trying to contact her and Asif but her phone was always switched off and Asif would disconnect the calls saying it was a wrong number Since we live in Belgaum and it was tough to travel during the pandemic we could not reach Mumbai immediatelyrdquoSaniyarsquos family was disturbed as they were unable to talk to her for the past year But in August this year they finally visited Nalasopara ldquoI learnt that Asif and his family had sold out the property and shifted somewhere else Shocked I went to the Achole police station and the cops dialled Asifrsquos number but he did not respond After poring over my phonebook I found Asifrsquos motherrsquos number So I dialled her and luckily she picked uprdquo Javed recalledHanif Shaikh and Saniya ShaikhldquoAsifrsquos mother revealed that the family had sold the Nalasopara property and shifted to Mumbra She mentioned a marriage hall as a landmark near their new residence and we rushed there immediatelyrdquo he saidldquoThough I saw Amaira there Saniya was not to be seen When I asked Asif about her he claimed she had eloped with someone and had been untraceable for the past year Rattled I went to the Mumbra police station to register an FIR The cops suggested I visit Achole police station in Nalasopara and the police helped me register a missing personrsquos complaint there on August 29rdquo he saidThe police then showed him the photographs of the bag in which the body was found Saniyarsquos relatives identified the decomposed body based on her dress senseThe Vasai police then called her husband and inlaws to identify the corpse but they refused according to KarpeThe body language of Saniyarsquos husband and inlaws was a little suspicious but the police did not arrest them and opted for DNA profiling ldquoWe had preserved the DNA samples of the body So the DNA samples of Saniyarsquos husband and daughter were collected and sent to the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory Kalina The samples matched We first arrested Asif who named his accomplices after he was grilledrdquo Karpe saidNow all the accused have been remanded in police custody till September 22 The police are yet to find the murder weapon and the vehicles used in disposing of the body and headThe police had been struggling to solve the case for months The zonal DCP Sanjay Kumar Patil had formed six teams of officers comprising inspectors Hrishikesh Pawal Abdulhaq Desai APIs Ram Survase Sunil Pawar Sagar Chavan and PSI Vishnu Waghmode constables Sunil Malavkar Vinod Patil Milind Gharat Sharad Patil Vinayak Kachare and othersThe Vasai police had installed 150 large banners and posters at all the police stations in the MBVV police commissionerate railway stations and public spots in a bid to identify the bodyMBVV commissioner Sadanand Date said ldquoOur Vasai PS team and DCP Zone 2 have worked diligently and persistently We have to also acknowledge that we got the breakthrough after the relatives approached the police Finally the evidence especially the DNA test gave us a good footing to take the investigation to its logical conclusion Now the work ahead of us of course is to connect all the dots and present the circumstances for judicial assessmentrdquo