Mahim Chowpatty murder: Killer woman harms self to confuse cops

Wasim Chaudhary, the deceased

Mahim police cracked a twisted murder mystery within hours after registering an assault complaint.

After receiving information about an assault on a woman, the officers visited Bhabha Hospital in Bandra. The victim, Hina Sheikh, claimed she was assaulted near Mahim Chowpatty. However, upon visiting the alleged spot, which was underwater due to high tide, cops grew suspicious.

Cops are yet to find the exact motive behind the woman's involvement in the crime

Within a few hours, cops found her involvement in a murder case and that she was trying to derail the investigation. Police officers said, the injuries on her body were superficial and indicated that they were self-inflicted.

Woman tries to confuse cops

At midnight on Tuesday, Sheikh, 20, visited Mahim Dargah with her friend Wasim Choudhary. Around 2.30 am, she was rushed to Bhabha Hospital, Bandra, with injuries on her right neck. Cops were informed by hospital authorities.

"When we reached the hospital, the woman was getting stitches done. We spoke to the taxi driver who brought her to the hospital. He showed us the spot on Lady Jamshedji Road where he saw the woman who was bleeding from her neck. We marked the spot and interrogated the girl. We then took her to Mahim Chowpatty where she claimed she was sitting at the time of the incident," an officer said.

On reaching the tetrapods of Chowpatty, the woman tried to confuse the cops about the exact spot of crime. It was only after approaching one tetrapod, she told the cops that her friend was stabbed to death at the spot as well.

When enquired why she had not mentioned about it earlier, she gave names of two persons who stabbed the man and said that she was scared, hence did not about the murder earlier.

The officers searched the area and found a dead body. They also recovered two railway tickets from his pocket, and established the railway station and time.

Teams were formed to check CCTV footage of railway stations and the movement of the woman in Mahim.

"As a routine, cops checked the Chowpatty area. On the same night, our men had visited the spot and found water rising due to high tide. Hence, it was clear that the couple did not sit at the spot mentioned by the woman," another police officer said.

The probe begins

A team was sent to Govandi and two persons were suspected to be involved in the murder. When their pictures were shown to her, she refused to identify them, making the police suspicious.

A team checking CCTV footage found Hina and Wasim walking towards Govandi railway station ticket counter and two more persons talking to them. Same persons followed them at Mahim station and roads leading to the dargah.

The two suspected people had bags. They later boarded a train going to Nagpur. A team was sent to Nagpur and Kamruddin Khan, 26, and Balkishan Gupta, 26, were nabbed.

Woman's hand in murder

According to the probe, deceased Wasim had come across a video of Khan with another man in a compromising situation. Wasim blackmailed him for money for three months and had received Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 on two occasions. On Tuesday night, Khan along with his friend Gupta accompanied Wasim to Mahim. The duo then stabbed him to death with the help of Hina Shiekh.

Sheikh is recuperating in the ICU of Sion Hospital. She had reportedly tied a knot with Wasim recently. However, they had frequent arguments. Cops are yet to find the exact motive behind her involvement.