Guard was perverted, killed woman lawyer: Mumbai cops

The Mumbai police crime branch arrested Sajjad Ahmed Mughal, 22, the watchman of Himalayan Heights for allegedly murdering lawyer Pallavi Purkhayastha at her Wadala residence on Thursday night. HT reports.

The Mumbai police crime branch arrested Sajjad Ahmed Mughal, 22, the watchman of Himalayan Heights for allegedly murdering lawyer Pallavi Purkhayastha at her Wadala residence on Thursday night.

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Pathan was arrested from Mumbai Central railway station as he was on his way to flee to Jammu and Kashmir by a train.

Joint commisiner of police, crime, Himanshu Roy said that "perversion of the highest order" was the motive behind the murder. Roy said Mughal had been planning the murder for some time and he knew that her live-in partner Avik Sengupta would be working late. The police found the murder weapon below a shoe rack on the third floor of Himalayan Heights building.

Police said that the accused had discontinued the electricity of the flat where Pallavi was staying so that she would call the electrician. After repairing it, when the electrician left, Mughal again switched the electricity off. The second time Mughl accompanied the electrician to Pallavi's house again and while leaving stealthily took her house keys.

Later that night around 1.30am he used the keys to enter the house and went to the bedroom and attacked her before fleeing from the spot.

The security agency where Mughal was employed had not maintained his complete address. The agency's negligence will also be probed, police said.