Political twist adds ‘love jihad’ angle to killing
Taxi driver Nizamuddin Rafiq Ali; Poonam Shirsagar; Poonam’s mother Laxmi
A 27-year-old taxi driver has been arrested for killing his female partner and disposing of her body near Uran. Preliminary investigations suggest that the deceased used to board the share taxi of the accused to her workplace. Due to regular meetings, the two developed feelings for each other and got into a relationship.
Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha met the victim’s family on Monday and consoled them. He also assured that they would do their best to punish the guilty. Interacting with the media, Lodha said, “This is the third such incident in Mumbai. So the police will not ignore it. The issue of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis living illegally in Mumbai will have to be settled. Otherwise, a young Hindu woman will not be able to get out of the house safely. The guardian minister, as a component of the state government, will try to bring justice to Poonam Shirsagar. If strict action is not taken against the accused within 24 hours, there will be a violent agitation,” he said.
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According to the police, the deceased Poonam Chandrakant Shirsagar was a resident of Sathe Nagar in Mankhurd. She lived with her mother and brother and has two sisters who are married. Poonam used to work as a domestic help at Sandhurst Road. “My husband was a BMC employee and died 11 years ago. After his death, my daughter started working and used to run the house. She used to leave the house around 9 am and return by 5 pm. On April 18, she left for work but didn’t return. As she used to work overtime, we thought she would be late. We started looking for her later. On April 19, we went to the workplace where they told us that she had come in the previous day and left on time,” Poonam’s mother Laxmi said.
According to Poonam’s brother Vinayak, he had called her at 3.30 pm on April 18 and she informed him that she would be late. “We called her at 6 pm but she didn’t respond. At 7 pm her phone was switched off. We approached the Nagpada police to file a missing complaint on April 19, but they asked us to approach the Mankhurd police as we reside in their jurisdiction,” he said.
The Mankhurd police filed a missing report on April 19 and started the investigation. “As the cell phone was switched off we first got the call data record of the woman. We found that she was in continuous contact with Nizamuddin Rafiq Ali, 27, a taxi driver. Also, some locals informed us that Nizamuddin was in touch with Poonam. We detained Nizamuddin and found that he drove a share taxi from Shivaji Nagar, Mankhurd, to Nagpada. Poonam would travel in his taxi daily. They had been in a relationship for the past four years. We were questioning him but he wasn’t ready to reveal anything and claimed that he didn’t know the woman,” said a police officer.
Meanwhile, the Uran police station found an unidentified body and contacted the Mankhurd police on April 25. “The body was completely decomposed and was half covered using a sack and blanket. Her family identified her through her clothes and the ring she was wearing. Subsequently, the Uran police registered a murder case and sent the body for a post-mortem. The body was then handed over to the family who performed the last rites,” said a police officer from Uran police station.
The police, during the investigation, found that Nizamuddin first took the woman to Khadavli and later to Uran where the body was covered with a sack and blanket and disposed of. “It is believed that he had strangled the woman near Khadavli and later dumped her body. The reason behind the killing is still unclear and we are currently interrogating the accused,” said an officer.
Meanwhile, the police said Nizamuddin was married and had a child. His family is staying in Uttar Pradesh and he is living in the Nagpada area in Mumbai. “Poonam and he had some disputes over the past few days and hence he decided to kill her,” said an officer.
April 18
Day woman went missing
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