Police arrest second accused who helped in disposing of the body

Second accused arrested in connection with the murder of Poonam Kshrisagar in Uran, allegedly helped dispose of body. Lover already in custody.

NAVI MUMBAI: The Uran police on Monday arrested a second accused in connection with the alleged murder of 27-year-old, Poonam Kshrisagar, whose body was found dumped in a sack in Chirner, Uran last week.

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The decomposed body was found on April 25 at the side of a road at Talekhar along Chirner - Kharpada in Uran. Two days later, the Uran Police arrested the lover of the victim, Nizamuddin Ali, 28, for allegedly killing her and dumping the body wrapped in a sack.

The second accused was identified as Sohail Ismail Khan, 19, from Chirner. According to the police, he has allegedly helped the victim’s lover in getting the body disposed of, as he was well versed with the area. Khan was arrested on April 29.

Poonam has been in a relationship with Ali, a taxi driver, for the past four years. On March 19, the victim was picked up by the accused for an outing. Towards Khadavali River, Kalyan, the victim was strangled to death, the police said. “There used to be frequent quarrels between them as the accused doubted the victim’s fidelity,” said a police official.

Ali originally hails from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He is married and has a two-year-old son while the victim was unmarried and lived with her mother, brother, and sister-in-law in Mankhurd where she worked as a house help.

After strangulating the victim, the accused contacted Khan seeking a safe way to dispose of the body, said a police officer. He added that, “The body was brought to Chirner and Khan who works in a local Chinese hotel was well aware of the remote locations and helped the accused identify the spot to dump the body,” said a police official.

Even as there are claims by relatives of more persons involved, police have ruled out further involvement of anyone else. Police are relying on CCTV footage of the victim and Ali travelling in the taxi. “From the footage, it is clear that there was no other person present in the vehicle. The second accused was contacted after the crime to help in disposing of the body and he also has been arrested,” said the senior police inspector Satish Nikam of the Uran police station.