Mumbra police crack case of unidentified woman’s body at Retibunder

Police solve mystery of woman's body found in plastic bag, arrest husband and accomplice for murder. The deceased's name was Ummejan Bibi alias Munni.

Mumbai: The Mumbra police have solved the mystery of an unidentified woman’s body in a plastic bag dumped on a road at Retibunder on May 27. The woman’s husband was arrested from Murshidabad in West Bengal on charges of killing his wife.

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The accused has been identified as Nabab Nooru Shaikh, 27, who works as a tree-cutting laborer, and his accomplice Salman alias Rajjan Kullu Shaikh, 20. The deceased’s name was Ummejan Bibi alias Munni, 26. All were residents of Versova, Andheri.

According to the police, Nabab and Munni got married in 2012 and have a six-year-old daughter, who lived with Munni at her maternal home in West Bengal. The crime took place in Versova on May 24 when all three were at Nabab’s house. Nabab, who suspected his wife of infidelity, strangulated her while Salman held her down during the murder.

After the body was found in a decomposed condition on May 27 at Immersion Ghat, Retibunder, the police formed a team of 20 officers. “We checked missing person complaints in the Thane and Navi Mumbai commissionerates but no records were found,” said Nivrutti Kolhatkar, Senior PI, Mumbra Police Station.

It was while going through CCTV footage near the body’s location that the police noticed a tempo that looked suspicious. After checking all the CCTV cameras on its route, the cops got the registration number, traced its ownership, and reached the registered address at an Andheri chawl. A police team questioned residents of the chawl, and found out that Nabab lived there. Munni too was identified by her photo as Nabab’s wife.

The police then went through CCTV footage of the area around the chawl and found Nabab with Salman Shaikh. “Based on information given by our police informer, we nabbed Salman on June 5. During the interrogation, Salman spilled the beans,” said a police officer. Nabab was later nabbed from his hiding place at Murshidabad in West Bengal. “We nabbed him on June 7, after seven days of intensive efforts, as he had switched off his mobile phone,” said a police officer.

Investigation officer Babasaheb Nikam said that during the interrogation, Nabab admitted that he thought his wife was unfaithful to him, as she refused to live with him in Mumbai. “They used to quarrel about this all the time,” said Nikam. “On the day of the crime, he and Salman strangled her, put her body in the tempo and threw her on the Retibunder road.”