Mumbai, July 03: Mohammed Javed Shaikh, the 19 year old arrested for raping and killing nine-year-old Nusrat Shaikh, and are yet to be released. After four youth from Kasaiwada in Nehru Nagar were picked up for questioning by the police in the last two days in connection with the rape-murders in the area, residents fear one of their kin will be next.
The families of these youth claim that they have been detained on the flimsy grounds of being friends of Mohammed Javed Shaikh.
The police have reportedly taken these youngsters into custody as it suspects that Shaikh had one or more accomplices. The youngsters picked up are Bilal Shah, Shadab, Ejaz and Mohammad Afaan Shaikh, say Kasaiwada locals. All are said to be between 18 and 21.
Bilal’s father, Mohammad Yasin Shah, said, “Police officers came to my residence at around 1am on Thursday. They wanted to ask Bilal a few questions, and said he would be sent back in half an hour. They told me that they had found Bilal’s number in Shaikh’s mobile phone records, and hence wanted to ask him a few things about Shaikh. However, it has been around 40 hours since and there is no sign of my son.”
The other youth, Ejaz, is in a similar situation. His parents said that their son is yet to return from the police station after he was picked up.
Iftikhar Shaikh, a Kasaiwada resident, said “Shaikh stays in our locality, but that does not make everyone here a suspect. The police had earlier arrested Mohammad Ajmeri, also from this place, but he was found innocent. If the police go on picking up youngsters on whim and then frame them, I am afraid the next could be my son.”
Police officials, however, denied they had detained any youngsters. Additional commissioner of police (east region), Ritesh Kumar, said, “We have not arrested any more youngsters, but the process of questioning people in connection with this case is on.”
–Agencies