Four-month-old murder solved
THE CRIME Branch has finally cracked the intriguing murder of tanker owner Mohammad Iliyas Khan, who was killed four months ago. His body was found lying on the back seat of his car (Maruti Swift, MP-09-MA-7999) on September 28, 2006, which was parked outside the IIM gates.
THE CRIME Branch has finally cracked the intriguing murder of tanker owner Mohammad Iliyas Khan, who was killed four months ago. His body was found lying on the back seat of his car (Maruti Swift, MP-09-MA-7999) on September 28, 2006, which was parked outside the IIM gates.
Iliyas had been strangulated with a piece of rope and there were injury marks in his private parts.
Four persons have been arrested and among the conspirators are two of his tanker drivers. Police said that Iliyas fell into the conspirator’s trap due to his blind belief that he would be able to get rid of his wife through witchcraft.
While investigating, the police checked the call details of the deceased and found that he had received a call on his mobile phone from an STD PCO at Rajgarh bus stand, Dhar, on the September 27 morning and then another call at 5 pm from the Labria Bheru bus stand. The investigating team deduced that the same person had made the call, first before getting on the bus at Rajgarh and after reaching Labria Bheru.
They concentrated their search in the Rajgarh belt and found that tanker drivers Ram Singh alias Keshiram (27) and Karan Singh (25) worked for Iliyas and were quite close to him. After Iliyas’s murder they had left the job.
Police picked up both of them and Ram Singh confessed after sustained interrogation and the entire story unfolded itself. Ram Singh said that Iliyas wanted to get rid of his first wife Parveen Apsara, whom he had divorced, with the help of witchcraft. He was unhappy that two of his elder sons Mohammad Imran and Mohammad Israr stayed with their mother at Madina Nagar rather than with him at 65, Ashoka Colony, where he lived with his youngest son Mohammad Firoz.
Ram Singh told Iliyas that he knew a tantrik who could ensure that his wife would die within a month or two and that it would cost him around Rs 3.5 lakh to arrange the ceremony. However, Ram Singh knew nothing could be achieved through witchcraft and he conspired with Karan Singh, Bheru Singh (30) and Ganpat (35) that they would kill Iliyas and take the money. Ganpat was given the task of pretending to be a tantrik.
On September 27, Ram Singh, Ganpat and Bheru Singh got together and reached Rajgarh at 11.30 am from where Ram Singh called Iliyas and told him that they had got hold of a tantrik and that he should make arrangements for the money. Iliyas told them to go ahead. The trio reached Gangwal bus stand (Labria Bheru) and called Iliyas. Ram Singh introduced Ganpat as the tantrik.
Then all of them went to Annapurna temple in Iliyas’s car from where they brought the goods necessary for the tantrik ceremony, which included nine lemons and nine pins. From there they went to the crematorium at Shramik Chauraha, Rau, where they performed part of the ‘ceremony’.
Later they went to a godown at Udyog Nagar, Palda Road, at 9 pm, for remaining part of the ‘ceremony’. As arranged earlier, Karan Singh was already present there, and had made all arrangements for the pooja. Ganpat had told Iliyas that when the final chants were pronounced the lemons along with the pins would fly in the air.
Since they were very well aware that nothing of this sort would happen, they caught Iliyas when he was busy in the ceremony and strangulated him. They also hit him with a brick in his private parts. Then they dragged the body into the back seat, and abandoned the car near the IIM gates.
Apart from Rs 3.5 lakh, they also took away two mobile phones, gold chain, watch and ring which Iliyas was wearing. Police have recovered the mobile phone, watch, gold chain, and Rs 66,000 (Ram Singh’s share) in the form of fixed deposit in a bank, and motorcycle (bought by Bheru).
