Morning walk murder: Husband arrested

What looked like a robbery gone wrong turned out to be a well-planned murder.The crime branch, on Thursday, arrested Jiten Dedhia (41) and four others, for the murder of Dedhia’s wife, Beena, on October 27.

What looked like a robbery gone wrong turned out to be a well-planned murder.

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The crime branch, on Thursday, arrested Jiten Dedhia (41) and four others, for the murder of Dedhia’s wife, Beena, on October 27.

Beena (39) was killed in Lalbaug in central Mumbai during her morning walk. The incident had shocked the city and had the police fretting over the safety of morning walkers.

Beena’s brother’s wife, Rupal Chheda (39), was also arrested. Dedhia, a grocer, was having an affair with Chheda, a graduate who sells homemade chocolates. He decided to kill Beena because she refused to give him a divorce, police said.

Chheda’s husband, Paresh, is a chemist.

The police learnt of Dedhia’s involvement through his call records. Dedhia, who paid Rs 1 lakh for the job, took the help of a newspaper vendor, Rajnikanth Wagh (64), Hasruddin Malik (28), a juice vendor and Mohammed Nazim Khan, a 22-year-old taxi driver.

At 5 am on October 27, Dedhia informed Malik that he and Beena were going for a walk. Malik and Khan arrived on a motorbike. Khan assaulted Beena on her neck with a chopper. “He [Dedhia] said that they should ensure she dies or she would tell the police everything,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria.

Khan then stabbed Beena in the stomach. The duo also slashed Dedhia’s arm and took away Beena’s gold chain and other valuables to make it look like a robbery.