Mahim rape-murder accused tries to fool cops, gets arrested in no time

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A 23-year-old footpath dweller from Mahim tried his best to evade arrest by helping the local cops trace the accused in a rape and murder of a five-year-old girl, but in no time the officers found out that it was he who had committed the crime.

The cops realised it when they were showing a CCTV footage recovered from near the crime spot to some of the women living on the same footpath, as the expressions on the accused's face changed and he started feeling uneasy. During interrogation Mehandi Hasan Mohammed Mushtaq Sheikh confessed to the crime and was immediately arrested.

The police said the victim was abducted, raped and killed during the wee hours of Thursday. As her body was recovered from a secluded place close to where she lived, the cops presumed the accused knew the area well. Soon after, they formed a team and started investigation.

A police officer said, "The spot where the girl was found was between the backyard of a religious place and some parked cars. Hence, we presumed that the killer knew really well where he could commit the crime."

"The footage from a CCTV camera installed by a furniture showroom in the area had captured the man walking with a girl from behind. The time of the recording was just a couple of minutes after the girl went missing. Thereafter, we started showing the footage to the other people who lived on the same footpath," said another police officer.

"Meanwhile, when we started questioning Sheikh, he became uncomfortable. In fact when some of the women in the locality was checking the footage, he tried to escape from the spot. That is when we arrested him," said the officer.

Speaking to mid-day, Vikram Deshmane, DCP (zone 5), said, "Minutes after we started interrogating him, he confessed to the crime. He has been booked under sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of IPC and relevant sections of POCSO Act. The accused will be produced in the court today."

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