Mumbai deaf-mute murder: Victim’s wife deleted WhatsApp chats

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Investigations into the murder of the deaf-mute man have revealed that his wife, Ruksana Shaikh, played a significant role in destroying critical evidence. According to police, Ruksana allegedly deleted WhatsApp chats and Instagram accounts belonging to both herself and the deceased, tampering with digital evidence crucial to the investigation into her husband, Arshad Shaikh's, murder on August 4.

The case came to light on August 5 when the Dadar Government Railway Police (GRP) apprehended Jay Chawda with a red suitcase containing a dead body. Upon investigation, police discovered that the deceased, Arshad Ali Sadiq Ali Shaikh, 33, had been killed by his friends, Jay Pawan Chawda, 32, and Shivjeet Singh, 34, at a residence in Pydhonie. They allegedly murdered Shaikh using a hammer and broken beer bottles, then packed his body into a suitcase to abandon it on an express train at Dadar. However, their plan was stopped when railway police intercepted them.

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During the investigation, police also arrested Ruksana Shaikh, who was implicated in the murder and had been having an affair with Chawda for several years. Authorities also identified an NRI from Belgium, Jagpalpreeth Singh, as playing a key role in orchestrating the murder, having allegedly instructed the killers on how to execute the plan.

The three accused were presented before the Mazgaon Magistrate Court and were remanded in judicial custody. Police informed the court that they would seek further custody of the accused if Jagpalpreeth Singh is brought to India for interrogation.

Pydhonie police told mid-day, "After Arshad Shaikh was killed, Ruksana deleted her own WhatsApp chats and her husband's Instagram accounts. She initially denied her involvement in the crime," the police said.
Police are still working to establish Jagpalpreeth Singh's involvement in the murder and recently travelled to Faridkot, Punjab, to locate Singh's residence, but returned empty-handed as they were unable to find the address.

The police have indicated they will file a charge sheet in the case. "We are reviewing all available videos from August 4 to determine each suspect's involvement," said an officer. Police suspect Jagpalpreeth Singh's involvement in the crime stems from his desire to maintain dominance within the community. "There are seven to eight WhatsApp groups, one of which includes international numbers. Singh and Shaikh held influential positions in the community and were rivals both on social media and in real life," the police said.

Singh reportedly has 6,000 followers on Instagram, and police are investigating how many followers Shaikh had before his account was allegedly deleted by Ruksana. "The accused in this case has a significant social media presence - Jay Chawda, for instance, had 11,000 followers," added the police.

It was also revealed that Jay Chawda and Singh met through a WhatsApp group and had been in regular contact for the past seven to eight months, developing a close friendship, according to a police officer.

"We suspect that Jagpalpreeth Singh had made a deal with Jay Chawda to beat the victim and was supposed to pay them after the crime was committed. Chawda then told Singh about the same and Singh joined in the crime. Both Chawda and Singh were drunk and we had recovered the bottles from Chawda's house where the incident took place," said the police.

So far during the investigation, the police have found no monetary transactions between Chawda and Singh.