A month on, man who murdered woman in Turbhe arrested from Nepal

MUMBAI: A month-long probe into the murder of a 50-year-old woman in Turbhe led the cops to Nepal, where the Navi Mumbai police arrested the accused

MUMBAI: A month-long probe into the murder of a 50-year-old woman in Turbhe led the cops to Nepal, where the Navi Mumbai police arrested the accused.

A month on, man who murdered woman in Turbhe arrested from Nepal

The victim, Marjina Mondal, a resident of Turbhe village was stabbed to death with a sharp weapon on March 15. At the time, the police registered a murder case and launched an investigation to identify the accused.

After looking through the victim’s phone records and questioning several local residents, the police narrowed down the accused to Mohammad Akhtar, a resident of Kishanganj in Bihar, who had been in contact with the victim shortly before the crime. “Akhtar had switched off his mobile phone immediately after the incident and gone into hiding, raising further suspicion,” said a police officer.

A police team led by APMC police station’s assistant inspector Nilesh Patil and crime branch unit (1) assistant police inspector Nilesh Bankar travelled to Bihar to trace the accused. However, during the search operation, the police found out that Akhtar had fled the country and was hiding in Nepal.

The team then tracked him to Beldangi village in Jhapa district of Nepal. With coordinated efforts, the police detained him and brought him back to Navi Mumbai, where he was formally arrested in connection with the murder.

When interrogated, the accused told the police the victim was involved in arranging women for prostitution and claimed that he had approached her for that purpose. He said that even after he paid her ₹450 she failed to “arrange a woman” for him and an argument broke out. “In the ensuing altercation, Akhtar allegedly attacked Mondal with a sharp knife, leading to her death,” said the officer. The police said they are investigating the matter to verify the claims of the accused.