Cutlery hawker stabbed to death for crossing limits

Officials of the Mankhurd police station solved the murder case of a 19-year-old hawker within 24 hours of the crime. Azad Chauhan, whose body they recovered at 3.30 am yesterday on Bharat Bridge on the Sion-Panvel highway while patrolling the area, used to sell cutlery in the ladies compartments between Vashi and CST.

Raj Singh Gurjar and Jaan Khan were arrested 24 hours after they killed Azad Chauhan. The third accused, Vishal Jaiswal, is still at large

Inspector Bhimashankar Dhole of the Mankhurd police station said, "We checked the body and found nothing on it. No wallet, no identity card. Just dirty clothes and stab wounds on the stomach and head." When the police officials checked again, they found a SIM card in his pocket. They immediately inserted it into a handset and discovered that three numbers were stored in the card's memory.

"We dialled the first number and summoned the person to the police station, who was later identified as Govind Pal," Dhole said. Pal, who was later taken to the hospital for identification, identified the body to be of Azad Chauhan, a resident of Kamothe in Mansarovar, Navi Mumbai. He told officials that Chauhan sold cutlery items in women's compartments in trains. Pal also provided the officials with a vital lead that a couple of months ago, Chauhan had an argument with another hawker named Jaan Mohammad Kasim Khan, who claimed that Chauhan had entered his area (beyond Vashi) to sell cutlery.

Their argument lead to a battle of fisticuffs between the two, wherein Chauhan thrashed Khan. Wanting to avenge the humiliation he suffered at the hands of Chauhan, Khan sought help from his friends Vishal Jaiswal, a resident of Cheetah Camp in Trombay and Raj Singh Gurjar, a resident of Navi Mumbai to teach Chauhan a lesson. The trio intercepted Chauhan last night at Mankhurd station and manhandled him. They then allegedly stabbed him and fled the spot. "We have arrested Gurjar and Khan, and are on the look out for Jaiswal, for murder (Section 302 of the IPC)," Dhole said.

After killing Chauhan, Khan met Pal and told him that "Chauhan ka kaam humne tamaam kardiya (We have taken care of Chauhan)," but Pal thought that Khan was joking and did not pay much attention to his statement. Pal would now be treated as the police witness in the case.u00a0