BEST bus driver held for sand trader murder

Mumbai: A day after a 35-year-old constable attached with the Mumbai police was arrested by the Thane (rural) police on charges of kidnapping and murdering a local sand trader, his brother who works as a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus driver, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the crime on Friday. The murder is linked to a monetary dispute between the constable and the trader.

According to the police, the body of a middle-aged man was found at a secluded spot near  Velkar Farms at Versova on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway in Kashi-mira on Wednesday.  The deceased was found dead with his hands and legs tied and marks around his neck, indicating that he had been strangled to death.

Based on a missing complaint registered by the wife of the deceased, the police found out that the body belonged to Mustafa Shaikh (34), a resident of Mira village who was into the business of supplying sand to local builders in the region.

Investigations revealed that Shaikh owed `1 lakh to the accused identified as Mushtaq Mulani alias Babloo (35) but was reluctant to pay it back. This caused frequent fights between the duo. The police immediately picked up Babloo, who after a series of sustained interrogations confessed to the crime.

In an attempt to recover his money, Babloo and his brother Munir Mulani abducted Shaikh on Tuesday and confined him in his flat located in the Vijay Park area, where he was brutally tortured.