Local helps police crack murder case in Ghatkopar

Help from a resident helped the police solve the murder case of a woman whose body was found in a drain in Ghatkopar on July 15.

Help from a resident helped the police solve the murder case of a woman whose body was found in a drain in Ghatkopar on July 15.

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While the post-mortem report stated that the woman had been strangled, she couldn’t be identified for more than a week. Despite checking with local residents, the police didn’t get any clue regarding her identity.

“We could not take the investigation further as we knew nothing about her,” said Rafique Shaikh, assistant inspector of Ghatkopar police station.

On July 23, the officers received a call from a Ghatkopar resident, who had gone to his native village in Uttar Pradesh. “He learned that the police there had detained a man for allegedly murdering his wife in Ghatkopar. He called us up with details of that woman’s family,” Shaikh said.

The Ghatkopar police then called up the family members, who identified the woman as Siratunnisa Ismail.

The investigating team was sent to Uttar Pradesh, where her husband, Mohammad Hajis, 34, was detained. It turns out that Hajis found out Siratunnisa was having an affair and hence killed her and threw her body in the drain.