Three people, including two brothers, were found dead on Saturday morning in Turbhe area of Navi Mumbai in a godown from where a scrap business was run.
The deceased identified as Rajesh Kumar Devnarayan Pal (30), Irshad Javad Khan (20) and his brother Naushad Javad Khan (19), hailed from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, and had been working for Naseem alias Mohammad Mohiudeen Abdul Shaikh (44) for the last three years. They also lived in the godown.
Mr. Shaikh lives at Turbhe naka and ran his scrap business from this godown on Plot Number 19 in Bonsari village, Turbhe MIDC. On Friday night after the day’s business, Mr. Shaikh left for home. On Saturday morning at around 7.30 a.m., a cousin of the Khan brothers, who stayed nearby, went to the godown along with another acquaintance, as per their usual daily routine to meet the three for morning tea.
“The duo saw the bodies, and informed the police after which we reached the spot immediately,” said deputy commissioner of police, Zone II, Ashok Dudhe. The police recovered a hammer and a sickle from the spot, which they suspect, could be the murder weapons.
“It appears as if the assailants first struck the victims with a hammer on their head, while they were sleeping, and later slashed their neck attacked with a sickle. The owner has said that ₹2 lakh cash kept in a cupboard in the godown is missing while the other belongings kept in the cupboard were messed up. Though it looks likes a robbery, we suspect that the main intention could have been murder and the robbery was done to make it look like a motive,” a police officer from Turbhe MIDC police station said.
Since there were no signs of any scuffle or retaliation, police suspect that the accused could be more than one. A case has been registered against against unidentified persons under Sections 302 (murder), 394 (Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 450 (House-trespass in order to commit offence) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
