Mumbai Police is yet to achieve a breakthrough in connection with the murder of a 32-year-old homemaker in suburban Malad, although the investigators identified the assailant soon after the murder and secured details about him.
Malad police station has formed three special teams to trace the accused while equal number of squads have been constituted to crack the case by crime branch, police said.
Shagufta Khan’s body was found by her schoolgoing daughters who also saw the killer. The Malad police have identified the accused and stated that he was a frequent visitor to the apartment. The motive is believed to be personal.
Khan resided with her husband Sonu Jalan, and her daughters at Rustomjee Riviera on Marve Road. Relatives told the police that Sonu runs an automobile parts business and was away in Australia on a business trip.
Around 3.30pm, the couple’s daughters, aged 14 and 9 years, returned home from school. They noticed that both the doors to their apartment were ajar. “There were bloodstains on the floor. The older sibling then asked the younger one to wait outside and ventured in to check on her mother. She knocked on her mother’s room and heard a man’s voice from inside. As the killer emerged, the elder daughter ran and locked herself in another room. Meanwhile, the younger sibling went to a neighbour’s flat downstairs and raised an alarm,” an official said.
The accused grabbed cash and gold from the house and stuffed it in a bag. After he left, the elder daughter called up her father who in turn informed a family friend of the incident.
