Laila’s ‘husband’ denies marriage

The Laila Khan murder mystery is far from over. On Wednesday, Sonu alias Wafi Khan, who had supposedly married Bollywood starlet Laila Khan, told the Mumbai crime branch that he had never been married to the actress.

The Laila Khan murder mystery is far from over. On Wednesday, Sonu alias Wafi Khan, who had supposedly married Bollywood starlet Laila Khan, told the Mumbai crime branch that he had never been married to the actress.

HT Image

Parvez Tak, the main accused in the case, told police that Laila and the entire family was going to settle in Dubai for a better quality life, which was a likely motive for the murders as Tak said he had felt abandoned for not having been able to accompany them since he did not have a valid passport.

Meanwhile, Tak, 30, has reportedly told police that Laila’s mother Saleena Patel was killed by a grinder stone at their farmhouse in Igatpuri, Nashik. The blow was so brutal that she bled profusely and died of the wound, Tak has told in a statement.

Sources in the crime branch said an argument broke out between Saleena and Tak (who claims to be her third husband) in the wee hours of February 8, 2011. “The two came down to the ground floor from the 1st floor of the bungalow, arguing over Asif Sheikh (2nd husband of Saleena) and the proposed re-location of the family,” sources said.

“When Saleena started to get loud, Tak hit her by a grinder stone,” sources said adding that hearing her shouts, three members of the family came down and a fight broke out.

It was then that Tak called out for Shabir Hussein, a watchman from Jammu and Kashmir, who was employed by the Khans at Tak’s insistence, to help. “The two assaulted the rest with an iron rod and knives,” sources said. When the two remaining family members came down they were also killed the same way.

“Since Tak had been staying with the family for two years, no one came armed or thought that he would go to such a level,” sources added. Also, as they came to the ground floor in batches of one, three and two – the two accused overpowered them with ease,” sources said.