03 December,2020 07:53 AM IST | Mumbai | Diwakar Sharma
This picture has been used for representational purpose
A 55-year-old taxi driver - Irfan Siddhiqui - ran out of breath and died while chasing a mobile thief for a distance of over 60 metres near Bhendi Bazaar area of south Mumbai on Sunday. The JJ Marg police nabbed the accused, a drug addict, from Pydhonie area on Wednesday. He has been remanded in police custody till December 5.
The accused has been identified as Mohammad Hamid Iqbal Shaikh, 36, who hired the taxi around 6 am on the day of the incident to reach Mutton Street on SVP Road, Bhendi Bazaar.
A police officer said, "After alighting from the taxi, Shaikh told the driver that he did not have money to pay him. He asked Siddhiqui to give him his cell phone so that he could call his relative and get some cash. But the driver refused to give his cell phone to Shaikh."
"An argument led to a minor scuffle between the two, following which Shaikh hit on the driver's hand causing him to loosen his grip on the cell phone. Thereafter, the accused snatched it and ran towards the main road at Bhendi Bazaar area," the officer said. "The driver started to chase Shaikh. After running for more than 60 metres, Siddhiqui ran out of breath and collapsed," the officer added.
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Passerby Sharifuddin Jawaheer Khan, 32, noticed the whole incident and immediately rushed the taxi driver to the nearby JJ Hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead.
Since it was a medico-legal case, the hospital authority informed the JJ Marg police and a case under sections 304 (causing death by negligence), 392 (punishment for robbery) and 34 (common intention) of IPC was registered.
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The senior officers were informed about the incident and a team including inspectors Yakub Mulla and Iqbal Avalkar, assistant police inspectors Fareed Khan and Popatrao Dhaytunde was given the charge to trace the accused.
The team scanned over a dozen CCTV footage and traced the accused to Pydhonie area on Wednesday. Shaikh was then produced before court and sent to police custody till December 5.
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