Cops start process to issue LoC, Blue Corner Notice against NRI in Belgium

The Pydhonie police on Friday informed the Mazgaon Metropolitan Magistrate Court that they have started the process to open a Lookout Circular (LoC) and Blue Corner Notice against an Indian settled in Belgium, in connection with the murder of a hearing and speech impaired person

Kicker: Deaf & mute man’s murder

Cops start process to issue LoC, Blue Corner Notice against NRI in Belgium

MUMBAI: The Pydhonie police on Friday informed the Mazgaon Metropolitan Magistrate Court that they have started the process to open a Lookout Circular (LoC) and Blue Corner Notice against an Indian settled in Belgium, in connection with the murder of a hearing and speech impaired person by two of his friends.

The court sent the three accused arrested in the case - Jay Chawda, 30, from Pydhonie, Shivjeet Singh, 33, from Ulhasnagar, and the victim’s wife, Ruksana Arshad Ali Shaikh, 29, a resident of Kalina - to judicial custody.

Police, however, submitted that they might require further custody remand of the trio later, to confront them with a Punjab native settled in Belgium who allegedly played a role in the murder.

During their investigations, police found out that the murder accused had taken videos while torturing the deceased after stripping him and tying him up. During this time, they frequently made video calls to a person in Belgium, Europe.

“They were taking instructions from him. The person was identified as Jagpalpreet Kamal Singh, 50, who hails from Phagwara in Punjab and is presently settled in Belgium. Singh is also deaf and mute, and they were all members of a WhatsApp group of deaf and mute, communicating via WhatsApp video calls,” said a police officer.

On probing further, police came to know that there were disputes over supremacy in the group, with Singh considering himself as the leader. The leadership issue led to conflicts among group members that ultimately led to the victim being murdered.

“We have added section 61 of criminal conspiracy of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita to the case. We have also written to Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to get details about Singh’s travel history,” said the police officer. “We want to confront the accused together.”

An alert Government Railway Police (GRP) constable, Madhav Kendre, had spotted a bag being pulled by two people at Dadar railway station. The duo was about to board the Tutari Express to Sawantwadi on 4 August.

When the constable confronted the two, one of them fled and the other was not ready to open the bag.

When the policeman forced him to open the bag, he was shocked to find a body which was packed with a polythene bag. When he questioned the accused, the deceased was identified as Arshad Ali Sadiq Ali Shaikh, 30, a resident of Kalina, Santacruz.

The accused was identified as Jay Chawda and the other accused who fled was identified as Shivjeet Singh. Singh was picked up by the Pydhonie police later from Ulhasnagar area.

In further investigations, after registering a case under sections 103 (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the police had found that the deceased was tortured by the two accused who stripped him and beat him with a beer bottle and hammer.

Police took the help of a teacher from the Bombay Institute for Deaf and Mute, Ayaz Ahmed Nazir Shaikh, to communicate with the accused, including Ruksana, the wife of the deceased, who was also hearing and speech impaired.

“She was having an affair with accused Chawda and was aware of the conspiracy to kill her husband. So, she was arrested on 7 August,” said the police officer.