3 minors among 4 held for Turbhe woman’s murder

Kiran Temba Sherapa’s body was found in a metal trunk at an isolated spot in Vashi village, off the Sion-Panvel highway on April 2.

The Turbhe police arrested a 22-year-old man and sent three minors to a remand home on Friday and Saturday for allegedly killing a 50-year-old woman from Turbhe Store.

The Turbhe police arrested a 22-year-old man and sent three minors to a remand home on Friday and Saturday for allegedly killing a 50-year-old woman from Turbhe Store. (HT File)

Kiran Temba Sherapa’s body was found in a metal trunk at an isolated spot in Vashi village, off the Sion-Panvel highway on April 2. The main accused in the case is her adopted 17-year-old son. Just after the incident, the son and his 22-year-old friend, Aslam Sheikh, went into hiding. The police nabbed them in Bangalore on Friday. “The other two nabbed in Turbhe are 17 and friends of the son,” said Amar Desai, senior inspector of Turbhe police station.

“The accused killed the woman by strangling her with a scarf on April 29. They kept the body in her house for a day. On April 30, they dumped the body in an auto. They also put her clothes in the trunk,” he added.

When asked about the motive, Desai said, “The woman was upset with the son’s behaviour and would scold him, which irritated him. Sherapa also owned the house where they stayed and the son wanted to sell that house and take the money. That would not have been possible without killing the woman. So he hatched the plan to kill her.”

The police have booked the accused under section 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Shaikh has been remanded in police custody. “We are trying to find out if some more people were involved in the crime,” Desai said.