Mumbai: The police has arrested two men, including an alleged drug peddler, for the June 12 murder of small-time actor Kritika Chaudhary.
The police said the duo had murdered Chaudhary because she had failed to pay them Rs 6,000 for the purchase of mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant narcotic known as ‘MD’ on the streets. The arrested accused have been identified as Shakeel Naseem Khan (33) and his aide Basu Das (40).
Chaudhary (23) was found lying dead at her rented flat in Four Bungalows, Andheri West, on June 12. The police said Khan decided to kill Chaudhary as he held a grudge against her for not paying the '6,000 she owed him. Khan assaulted Chaudhary with a knuckleduster, the police said.
The duo was arrested from Nalasopara and Govandi early on Monday morning, based on intelligence inputs, the police said. Officials also said they are not ruling out the robbery angle as ornaments on Chaudhary’s body are missing.
The officials of Amboli police station stated that the main accused, Khan, who was arrested by the Anti Narcotics Cell in August last year, was supplying drugs to Chaudhary on credit. Khan was in dire need of money, while his aide Das was pestering him for the money that Khan owed him.
When Khan approached Chaudhary, she refused to make the payment, and out of anger, Khan hatched a plan to either get his money or kill her.
On the night of June 8, the duo went up to Chaudhary’s flat asking for the money, and when she said she did not have any cash to give them, Khan hit her with a knuckleduster. Chaudhary suffered head injury in the assault, which led to her death. Following the murder, Khan removed the shirt that was stained with Chaudhary’s blood on the floor and fled the spot, officials said.
Paramjit Singh Dahiya, deputy commissioner of police, zone 9, said, “After the post-mortem report it was confirmed that Chaudhary’s death was because of unnatural causes and due to a head injury. Out of the two arrested accused, Khan knew Chaudhary for a year and a half, and was her drugs supplier. Khan’s aide was accompanying him as a back up.”
“Since they were arrested a few hours ago, we did not get any time to interrogate them. But we are yet to question them, and strong revelations can be made only after that,” Mr Dahiya added. The two arrested accused were produced in the magistrate court on Monday morning and were remanded to police custody for a week till Sunday.
