A group of four men allegedly murdered a youth over a petty issue while they were celebrating the New Year’s party in Bandra (east) in the early hours of Friday. The Kherwadi police, within four hours, traced and arrested three of them.
The arrested accused have been identified as Ramesh Sitaram Misal (24), his younger brother Mukesh alias Lalya Sitaram Misal (20) and Raju alias Kalya Raju (18). An unknown accused in the case is on the run. All of the accused are from a slum pocket known as Nyaneshwar Nagar in Bandra (east).
The deceased, Mohammad Ali Mehtullah Shaikh (27), was a fridge repairer who lived in Titanic building in Maharashtra Nagar, Bandra (east). Shaikh’s parents, wife, a four-year-old daughter and an eight -day-old son survive him.
The four accused, after getting drunk at a new years party, were loitering near the Titanic building. A resident of the building had manhandled Mukesh for an unknown reason. Mukesh went to his brother Ramesh, who was nearby, and told him about the incident.
All four then went to Titanic building and, as they were not allowed to enter, started hurling abuses asking for the person to come down. Shaikh was heading towards the building and asked them to leave. A heated argument ensued and in a fit of rage they punched and kicked Shaikh. One of them picked up a cycle and threw it on him.
The four then escaped. The cycle’s rod hit Shaikh on his neck and he could not breathe. Sources said locals delayed taking Shaikh to hospital and he died on admission at a nearby hospital to where he was taken in a rickshaw.
To the advantage of the police, the incident was captured on a CCTV camera on the premises. Senior inspector Sujata Patil and her team of two sub-inspectors Sheetal Patil and Pramod Gavde nabbed the accused in the nick of time. Ramesh was caught at Bandra station before he could flee. All of them have been remanded in police custody for two days by a magistrate’s court.
