Finally, Vasai police book accused after man solves son's murder case

Shabbir Khan submitted a letter with his evidence to the Vasai Road GRP in August 2017

More than two years after his son's death, Shabbir Khan has finally inched closer to bringing his son's killers to justice. Khan, who lost his 13-year-old son Mohammed on November 4, 2016, had quit his job to investigate the incident, which was initially dubbed as an accident. The Vasai Road cops, who had earlier called it an accidental death while taking a selfie near the railway track, have finally booked a 16-year-old boy in the case under section 302 of the IPC. The accused is suspected of having pushed the deceased on to the tracks following a theft attempt.

The incident
Mohammed Khan, residing with his family in Pooja Nagar, Mira Road, had gone out with his friends on the day of the incident. He was seen around 4.40 pm in the CCTV footage of his residential building, walking towards the railway tracks. Mohammed's friends were seen returning after 30 minutes, while he was absent. Post 9 pm, the family began searching for him and questioned his friends who said that Mohammed had stayed back with some of his friends while they returned. The following day, November 5, his family registered a missing person's complaint at the Naya Nagar police station. They were informed of the railway accident near Mira Road and the dead body was soon identified as that of Mohammed.

Khan's investigation
Khan, who was not in town at the time of the incident, soon returned and asked the police for the things they recovered from the site but the police said they had found nothing. That's when Khan suspected theft since he had in the recent past, gifted Mohammed a new phone. From examining the spot of death, to having detailed conversations with his friends, Khan conducted a thorough investigation and concluded that his son was killed for the mobile phone and money.

He submitted all evidence to the Railway Commissioner in August 2017, following which the police conducted their inquiry and found substance in his claims. However, things didn't progress beyond that. "I was stunned to see how the cops were handling a murder case. I was visiting the police station almost every day but to no avail," Khan had said. He met the senior inspector, DCP and even the Additional Director General when things finally began moving forward. DCP (Western) Purushottam Karad said, "We have found the involvement of one boy and are booking him for murder. If his statement reveals more names, we will nab them too."

Also Read: Mumbai: Man quits job to probe and solve son's cold-blooded murder

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates