Surat: Dire need of money to treat his cancer-stricken father led a 24-year-old man to plot the kidnapping and murder of his close teenage friend.
The crime branch sleuths on Saturday cracked the murder of 19-year-old Anwar Shaikh, whose body was found from roadside bushes near Vaktana village, and arrested two persons — Mehboob alias Maba alias Sardar Pathan (24) and Nissar alias Wasim Sherkhan Pathan (19) for the crime.
Investigation revealed that Mehboob, who worked as plumber and electrician, needed Rs 1.5 lakh cash for the treatment of his father, who was suffering from cancer. In fact, victim Anwar’s father Akbar, who has a tailoring shop, had an immense trust in Mehboob, especially while dealing in cash, and kept him along while making or collecting payment. Mehboob was aware about his cash liquidity and he started planning Anwar’s kidnapping when Akbar recently purchased a new house.
City police commissioner Satish Sharma said the duo strangled Anwar before making the ransom call. They had decided to kill him before making the call. Wasim, a labourer in textile market, had also carried a nylon rope with him on the day of crime.
“On May 27, Mehboob and Wasim took Anwar for a ride on his scooter. They went up to Palsana and kept checking various locations on the road to bump him off. While returning, one of the accused got down to urinate near Vaktana. Here they strangled Anwar with the rope and stabbed him using broken glasses of a liquor bottle lying nearby,” crime branch officials said.
Till the time Anwar was murdered, they did not tell him that he was kidnapped. After Anwar died, they made ransom call using his phone. “The accused feared that the victim knew them and he would give their names if released. Hence, they had plan to kill him since beginning, but they killed him before making the call for ransom,” the police said.
The reason behind killing Anwar before making the ransom call and that he was not even aware of being kidnapped is mysterious, the police said.
The two accused in police custody