After over two years of begging policemen to find his son who is claimed to have been killed, a harried 45-year-old man Sadrul alias Sajauddin Siddiqui on Thursday approached the state minority affairs minister Nasim Khan to expedite investigations.
Nearly three years ago, Mohammed Mohsin Siddiqui (19) went missing after getting off duty as a waiter at the Grand Hyatt hotel. Two accused were, at last, arrested in the matter, but not before the pained father had been completely withered in the face of police apathy.
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Though the case is now with the state criminal investigation department (CID), there is no trace of the youth. According to complaints (copy with MiD DAY), on November 14, 2010 after his first day at work, waiting on tables at the Grand Hyatt in Santacruz, Mohsin did not return home.
Siddiqui approached the Kanakia police station in Mira Road but cops dismissed his concern, saying Mohsin must be rollicking about with his girlfriend. “Tera beta girlfriend ke saath maze maar raha hoga. Baad me aa jayega,” an inspector told Siddiqui, he alleged. But a month later, on December 18, 2010, Mohsin was still missing and cops finally registered a non-cognisable complaint.
Out on a limb
Siddiqui, a tailor who resides in Geeta Nagar, Mira Road, said he had to bribe an officer at another police station to procure the call detail records (CDR) of his son’s mobile number. The records showed that someone in Hyderabad was using the handset. Siddiqui approached the Kanakia police with the details but the details failed to interest the policemen.
Siddiqui then decided to visit Hyderabad himself. He narrated his story to a local policeman there who’s help led him to the accused. The officer learnt that one Imtiyaz Hussain was using Mohsin’s handset. Surprisingly, the SIM card was registered in the name of an IPS officer. Siddiqui returned to Mira Road.
After his repeated pleas, the Kanakia police finally sent a team to Hyderabad. Curiously, it was Siddiqui who bore the expenses of the policemen’s lodging and food. “The police officers stayed in a luxurious hotel, eating and drinking lavishly. I spent all my money (Rs 35,000) on them but they failed to catch the accused. I had sold my wife’s gold chain to fund their trip,” said Siddiqui. Siddiqui then approached some locals in Hyderabad, and with their help, caught the accused. He rushed back to the Kanakia police officers and urged them to arrest him.
Still no trace
On July 30, 2011, seven months after Siddiqui first approached them, police registered an FIR under sections 363, 364, 34 of the IPC (copy available with MiD DAY) and arrested Imtiyaz. During interrogation, Imtiyaz first said that Mohsin had been killed in an accident at Kandivli. Later, he confessed that a friend of his had murdered him at Bandstand, Bandra for not throwing them a party after being employed with a famous hotel. Police arrested the man Imtiyaz had named, Rinku alias Bhupendra Dinesh Sharma. But they were yet to trace Mohsin’s body.
Siddiqui, meanwhile, understood that it was useless to rely on the police. On November 29, 2011, he approached the Bombay High Court. The same day, the court transferred the case to the state CID for further investigation. The accused duo is under investigation by the agency, which has also not been able to find Mohsin or his body. “After my son’s case, I saw the real face of the police. I have lost all faith in them. I hate them. I am still running from pillar to post for justice. My son is yet to be found, if he is still alive,” said Siddiqui.
Police say
“The interrogations of the accused did not yield any concrete leads. We did our best to locate Mohsin or find his body but haven’t been able to. Our hands are tied,” said an officer from Kanakia police station who was part of the investigating team earlier.
Inspector General SP Yadav, state CID, said, “I will look into the matter, verify the facts and get back to you.” Dr Punjab Rao Ugle, CID superintendent of police, currently in charge of the investigation, was unavailable.u00a0A police officer from Hyderabad said, “We had handed the accused Imtiyaz over to the Mumbai police the day we nabbed him. We have no knowledge of the case now.”u00a0