Murder of Ola driver in Bhiwandi linked to land dispute, 5 arrested

A month after the murder of 22-year-old Ola driver, Akrim Iqbaluddin Qureshi, the Bhiwandi Taluka police have cracked the case and arrested the five accused involved in the crime.

MUMBAI: A month after the murder of 22-year-old Ola driver, Akrim Iqbaluddin Qureshi, the Bhiwandi Taluka police have cracked the case and arrested the five accused involved in the crime. The murder, which took place on January 17 near the Tansa-Vaitarna Pipeline Road, close to the village of Pogaon in Bhiwandi, had initially left the investigators searching for leads.

Murder of Ola driver in Bhiwandi linked to land dispute, 5 arrested

However, the investigation picked up steam after the arrest of a 25-year-old woman, identified as Jassi Tiwari, in Thane on January 21, following technical leads from CCTV footage and the victim’s mobile phone records. And her interrogation led to the arrest of four men, all known to the victim, from Uttar Pradesh on Monday. With their arrest, police now claim to have solved the case.

The Bhiwandi Taluka police, led by inspector Dadaso Edke, had formed two separate teams to investigate the case. During the investigation, CCTV footage from the area revealed that Akrim was accompanied by a woman at the time of the incident. Further technical analysis of his phone records led to the identification and arrest of the woman, Jassi Tiwari, on January 21.

According to the police, with the help of the information provided by Tiwari, the police identified the four other accused - Mohammad Kaif, Isamuddin Riyazuddin Qureshi, Salman Mohammad Shafiq Khan and Suhail Ahmed Qureshi - all from Haiderpur village in Uttar Pradesh. The investigation further revealed that the murder was a result of a longstanding land dispute in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, between Akrim and the four men.

A police officer who is part of the investigation team, said that the four men had come down to Thane with a premeditated plan to kill Akrim. Accordingly, they got in touch with Tiwari and decided to use her as a bait.

“In July 2022, a heated argument had occurred over the land issue in Pratapgarh, leading to a plan to kill Akrim. The accused, along with Tiwari, who is also from UP but was living in Thane, hatched a plan to lure Akrim into a trap. Tiwari, pretending to be interested in a romantic relationship, invited him to Bhiwandi. Once he got there, the assailants attacked Akrim with an iron pipe and stones. Later, the accused threw two mobile phones and clothes of the victim into the Kalyan creek,” said the officer.

Meanwhile, Akrim’s family has demanded strict punishment for the accused.