Three held from Gujarat for murdering woman, 2 grandchildren in Mumbai
Cops zeroed in on accused, who were known to the woman, after scanning CCTV footage
The Mumbai crime branch late on Saturday arrested three people in connection with the murders of a 47-year-old woman and her two grandchildren at Malvani.
The police are yet to ascertain the reason for the murder but said that a property dispute could be the issue. Based on the CCTV footage obtained from the area, the police said they had zeroed in on the three, who were nabbed from Valsad in Gujarat.
Read: Woman, 2 grandchildren killed in Malvani
Grandmother died trying to save two children, police say
The three — Imran, Salman Shaikh and his wife, Anam — immediately fled to Gujarat after the murder, sources said.
“One of the arrested had sustained an injury. After interrogation, they later confessed to the crime,” said an officer.
According to the police, the CCTV footage proved vital as they could hear Shaw crying out Imran’s name. The police then questioned the father of the children, Ismail, and with the help of informers, zeroed in on the three and sent special teams to find them.
Aryan Shaikh, 13, and his sister Sania, 10, who lived with their grandmother Babli Shaw, 47, in Saabri Cooperative Housing Society, Malvani, were stabbed to death on Thursday.
Earlier on Saturday, the police had confirmed that the murderers were known to Shaw as there was no forced entry into the house. After a panchnama, the police ruled out robbery as the motive as nothing had been stolen from their house and Shaw’s jewellery was not missing. The police are now investigating if there is a property dispute, a business dispute or personal enmity.
“We are now focusing on two possible reasons for the murder. One could be property dispute while another angle is trafficking,” said an officer.
The police had collected forensic evidence from the spot. They had gone through Shaw’s call data records and said that they got a lead from that.
The post-mortem reports of the two children and their grandmother revealed that the children were stabbed more than 10 times with the kitchen knife.
The police have questioned over 15 people from the neighbourhood.