Navi Mumbai: Three days after the body of Kiran Temba Sherpa, 50, was found in a ditch in Vashi, her minor adopted son and three of his friend have been arrested for her murder from Bengaluru on Friday.
The minor and his friend, identified as Aslam Sheikh (21), were arrested by a team from Turbhe MIDC police station. During preliminary interrogation, the duo disclosed the involvement of two neighbours in Turbhe Store area, both minors. Ms. Sherpa’s body had been transported to Vashi in a trunk by autorickshaw, police said. The duo’s custody has been handed over to Vashi police station.
Senior PI Amar Desai, Turbhe MIDC police station, said, "All four were friends. They wanted to kill the woman to sell her house and divide the money.” The murder plan was executed by the adopted son and Mr. Sheikh at the former’s residence.
Stench alerts guard
Mr. Sheikh, police said, was a close friend of the victim’s adopted son. On April 30, he asked Mr. Sheikh to come to Turbhe Store from Bengaluru as per the plan.
The duo strangulated Ms. Sherpa to death with her scarf that night, and the body was kept in the trunk for a night and a day before being dumped in the drain on the night of May 1. The next morning, a security guard working nearby noticed a stench emanating from the trunk, and informed the police.
A police officer said, “Ms. Sherpa, a Nepali, was a former sex worker. She had adopted the accused after his biological mother, who was also a sex worker, abandoned him. The accused was apparently too young to remember when he came to live with the victim. To ascertain if he is a minor, we have subjected him to test and are awaiting the reports.”
Two of the accused minors, including the adopted son, are Class IX students, police said. While property seems to have been the primary motive, Ms. Sherpa’s son said during interrogation that her frequent nagging over studying and doing well in life irritated him.
