MUMBAI: The police have arrested four people in the murder of the 19-year-old girl who was shot dead on Tuesday in the Shivaji Nagar area of Govandi. The arrested accused include a 25-year-old woman who had allegedly been stalking the victim, said the police.
The Shivaji Nagar police said that the accused, Tabassum Shaikh, used a country-made pistol belonging to her partner, Rizwan Shamsuddin Shaikh, 23 to kill the victim, Shifa Shaikh.
“We have arrested Tabassum, her brother Sajid Shaikh, 23, Rizwan, and his friend Kalam Chowdhury, 19, all residents of Baiganwadi in Govandi,” said an officer from Shivaji Nagar police station.
According to the police, Shifa, the eldest of three siblings, had stepped out of her house on Tuesday morning to buy breakfast while her family was asleep. Around 10.30am, her father, Tuffel Ahmed Nabi Hussain Shaikh, 42, a construction contractor, was informed by the police that his daughter had been shot.
Investigations revealed that Rizwan, who the police found has a criminal record, had befriended Shifa about eight months ago despite being in a relationship with Tabassum for nearly seven years. When Tabassum found out about their friendship, she allegedly confronted Shifa at her house. Shifa’s family then sent her back to their hometown in Uttar Pradesh for a few weeks, and she returned to Mumbai only a month ago.
On Tuesday morning, Tabassum and her brother allegedly stopped Shifa and took her to Rizwan’s house, where he and Kalam were present. “There was an argument between them after which Tabassum took out the country-made pistol belonging to Kalam and fired a shot at Shifa from a close range. The bullet hit the upper part of her face and got stuck in the head,” said a police officer, adding that she was then rushed to Noor Hospital and from there to Shatabdi Hospital where she was declared dead.
The police said they have booked the accused under section 103 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and various sections of the Indian Arms Act, 1959. The four accused were produced before the Kurla magistrate court and were remanded to police custody till February 18.