In a shocking turn of events, Kulgaon police have cracked a murder case within 72 hours of discovery, arresting Mohammad Siraj for the killing of his step-brother, Mohammad Alam Muslim Ansari. The victim's body was found dumped in a plastic sack near Dharol village on October 4, leading to the registration of a case under Section 103(1) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita.
API Govind Patil of the Kulgaon Police Station told LokmatTimes.com, “The investigation revealed that the 24-year-old victim, originally from Jharkhand, was killed in the early hours of October 4 at the accused's residence in Sundarnagari Chawl, Vangani. The motive behind the murder was the victim's persistent harassment of the accused's wife, pressuring her to marry him.”
According to police reports, the accused's wife, Rajiya Ansari, struck the victim on the head with a wooden stick, while Mohammad Siraj engaged in a physical altercation with him. The body, dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans, and wearing a black thread and silver bracelet, bore a tattoo reading "mdalam" in English on his right wrist. Alam was struck on the head with a wooden stick by Rajia while Siraj struggled with him. This brutal attack led to Alam's death on the spot at around 1:00 AM on October 4. To conceal the crime, Siraj and Rajia wrapped the body in a plastic sack, loaded it onto their scooter, and dumped it near Dharol village on the Dharol to Chargav road around 3:00 AM. The location was approximately 500 meters from the local district school.
Initial investigations were challenging as the deceased was a non-local, making identification difficult. However, police examined footage from 80 to 90 CCTV cameras in the Wangani area and conducted technical analysis to track the suspects.
The accused were found residing in Sundarnagari Chawl, near a church behind the primary healthcare center in Vangani, Ambernath. Their native residence was traced to Mirzapur, Bihar.
Upon arrest, Siraj confessed that Alam was his stepbrother and had been causing distress to his wife, Rajia, by persistently demanding marriage. On the night of the crime, Alam arrived at Siraj's home, leading to a violent altercation. The couple then carried out the murder and disposed of the body to cover their tracks.
The police have arrested both Rajiya and Siraj. Further investigations into the case are being carried out by API Patil from Kulgaon Police Station.