Mumbai: Missing person found dead, three charged with murder

The Malvani police have arrested three persons in connection with the murder of 43-year-old Fahim Nazir Sayyed, alias Fahim Machmach, who had reportedly gone missing on April 17.

A missing complaint was earlier registered by the family of the deceased—a resident of the Ambuj Wadi area in Malvani.

On Thursday, Chimaji Adhav, senior police inspector at Byculla police station, who was previously posted at Malvani, received a tip-off from a reliable source that Sayyed had actually been murdered. 

The sources claimed the killers had packed the body in a sack and dumped it in a drain in Malad. The informant also revealed the identities of the suspects and the location of the crime.

Following the information, the police detained three suspects identified as Saif Faiz Shaikh, 28; Hazim Imran Khan, 19; and Suraj Arun Thakur, 19. During interrogation, the trio confessed to the murder and disclosed the location where the body was disposed of.

Explaining in detail, a police officer said that Sayyed had consumed drugs with his friend Faiyaz Shaikh, 52, and the duo went to the latter’s residence, where Faiyaz’s wife and 15-year-old daughter were present. 

While Faiyaz and his wife went to sleep, Sayyed allegedly made sexual advances toward the minor girl, who was chatting on her mobile phone with her boyfriend. 
Disturbed, the girl informed her boyfriend about Sayyed, who arrived at Faiyaz’s house with two others. The trio then allegedly assaulted Sayyed, resulting in his death.

“The murder reportedly took place in the early hours of April 17. After the murder, they tied the body in a sack and later transported the body in an autorickshaw before dumping it in a drain near Mith Chowky Metro station, Malad West,” said the officer.

It is said that the killers also recorded videos of Fahim`s beating. One of the accused revealed details of the murder to a friend while high on drugs, who then informed a police source, who later informed senior inspector Adhav.

“The police also have found footage showing the accused carrying the body in an auto-rickshaw in a sack,” the officer added.

On Friday morning, senior police officers from Goregaon, Byculla, Malvani, and Bangur Nagar police stations arrived at the spot where the body was dumped and began a search operation with assistance from the fire brigade. However, they could not find the body. One of the senior officers present at the spot told mid-day that the drain had already been cleaned in preparation for the monsoon a couple of weeks ago, and the waste had been loaded into dumpers and sent to a dumping ground near Mira-Bhayandar last week. 

Police said a team reached the dumping site and is continuing the search. As of the time of reporting, the body has not yet been recovered.

“We have registered a murder case. So far we have arrested three accused, and more suspects are likely to be arrested soon,” said senior inspector Shailendra Nagarkar of Malvani police station.

This article first appeared on Mid Day