A businessman was allegedly attacked in broad daylight on July 31, 2023, outside the Jehangir Art Gallery in Colaba by two men riding bikes. The attackers used an iron rod. The assailants concealed their faces and shielded two numbers on their bike's licence plate to avoid being discovered. However, Mumbai police solved this case with the help of a bike sticker and an Instagram post.
The police were at their wits' end since the businessman, identified as Imran, was hospitalised with serious injuries, and they had no leads on the perpetrators until the investigation team noticed an 'MK' sticker on the attackers' Pulsar bike.
The businessman's older brother, who was purportedly the one who had hired the two attackers, was eventually tracked down by the police. Irfan Yunus Namakwala, Islam Qureshi, Salim Mansoor Sheikh, and Lokendra Rawat had been apprehended by the Colaba police. The police stated that Irfan, a businessman, had paid the three accused roughly INR 1.5 lakh to attack his brother.
A few days ahead of the incident, Imran, who is the younger brother, had smacked Irfan in front of the entire family during a verbal fight between them at their Nagpada house. As a result of this fight, Irfan was enraged and wanted to punish Imran, a police officer stated.
Police claim that after Irfan approached Rawat and made an offer to pay him to complete the job. Rawat, Qureshi, and Sheikh carried out a reconnaissance in the area near his home. As per the police records, Sheikh was waiting outside Imran's residence on July 31 when he informed his accomplices, just as Imran was about to leave.
Rawat and Qureshi are accused of attacking him close to the Jehangir Art Gallery after following his car. They attacked him around 2:30 pm, when he pulled over and got out off the car to check the tyre pressure.
A case of attempted murder, conspiracy, and willingly causing great harm by dangerous weapons or means was reported to the Colaba police station when Imran was being admitted to Saifee Hospital.
Upon examining the CCTV tape, the authorities discovered that the defendant had painted over two numbers on their bike's licence plate to hide their identity. The two numerals that were in between were obscure, so all they could see was MH01BZ08. Therefore, the authorities began checking randomly and eventually were able to obtain the original number by inserting any number in between, stated a police official.
The authorities concluded that they had the number since it corresponded with one of the Pulsar bikes seen on CCTV footage. But after contacting the owner of the bike, the investigators learned that two years ago he sold his Pulsar. After digging more, they learned that ownership of that bike changed six times in two years; hence, to solve the case, they started to note more information about the bike.
After a deep analysis of the bike’s footage, the sticker of 'MK' caught the officials’ eye. Later, they came across an Instagram account where a man had posted a photo with a Pulsar. “MK” were initials of his name.
Officials then checked other pictures and found that he was from Sewri. Then they contacted the Sewri police station and sent a team there. The accused was then tracked down by the Colaba police through locals, and it turned out that Qureshi had taken the bike from him for a day.
On August 7, 2023, Qureshi was apprehended at his home in Sewri. He is said to have admitted to the crime and given the names of Irfan, Sheikh, and Rawat during his interrogation while in custody. Other accused were also taken into custody soon; though, they are are out on bail, but Rawat remains behind bars.
Share
Tweet
