Husband held eight months after woman’s body found in Malad

A 32-year-old contractor and his driver were on Wednesday arrested for allegedly murdering the former’s first wife and then dumping the body in Thane creek near

A 32-year-old contractor and his driver were on Wednesday arrested for allegedly murdering the former’s first wife and then dumping the body in Thane creek near Kharegaon village in July 2019. The body, which was put in a gunny bag, washed ashore a month later.

HT Image

According to the Powai police, Nisar Shaikh and driver Dhruvchandra Tiwari, 35, strangled 30-year-old Deepali Yadav with a rope, because “she was blackmailing him [Shaikh] when he married again”, in the intervening night of July 19 and July 20.

Yadav’s parents had registered a missing complaint in August 2019, stating that she could not be traced since July 19, 2019, after which an investigation was started, police said.

According to the police, Shaikh and Tiwari were picked up recently after an analysis of call records, and following sustained questioning, Tiwari revealed that Shaikh had killed his wife.

“We analysed her call records and recently called Shaikh for questioning. But he kept telling us that he was not aware of her location,” said Ankit Goyal, deputy commissioner of police, zone 10.

Later, sub-inspector Vinod Lad called Tiwari for questioning. Tiwari initially denied any knowledge about Yadav. But after sustained questioning, Tiwari told Powai police that Shaikh had killed his wife, said Goyal.

“We then arrested both the accused,” added Goyal. Shaikh, during his interrogation, told police that he had been in a relationship with Yadav for eight years, after which they got married on April 30, 2015 and lived together for three years. Nobody knew about their marriage during that period. Owing to frequent fights between them, Shaikh and Yadav decided to live separately.

On April 20, 2019, Shaikh remarried, and from then, Yadav started blackmailing him, said Powai police. Shaikh told Powai police that Yadav would threaten him, stating that she would expose his relationship with her if he did not pay her enough money. Shaikh further told police that he gave her money on many occasions, but her demands kept increasing.

Fed up with her demands, Shaikh decided to eliminate her. In the intervening night of July 19 and July 20, Shaikh invited Yadav for a party at a club in Malad. Shaikh called his driver and picked her up from Powai. According to the Powai police, Shaikh and Yadav were sitting behind and Tiwari was driving the car. When they reached Aarey Colony, Shaikh strangled her with a rope and killed her. The two accused then put her body in a gunny bag and drove to the outskirts of Kalwa where they dumped her in Thane creek.

“Because of heavy rain, her body washed ashore near Madh Jetty, Malwani. On August 7, 2019 Jitendra Sakpal, a local resident, saw the gunny bag and informed police. Malwani police had registered an FIR under sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against unknown persons,” Goyal said. The case has now been transferred to Malwani police for further investigation.

According to Goyal, Lad was rewarded Rs30,000 for his efforts to crack the case.