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This is as bizarre as it gets. A rape and murder accused, freed on bail, uses a tragedy for another dubious end. If the police version of the story is to be believed, the accused goes to the site of a building collapse, and amid the chaos and confusion, molests a woman and steals her mobile phone.
Mohammad Ajmeri Shaikh, 29, was released on bail a few days ago after being in jail for some time over the rape and murder of an underage girl. On Thursday, after getting news of the collapse of Rafique Estate in Kurla Kasaiwada, Shaikh went to the spot saying he was joining the rescue efforts.
"Around 2.45 am, Ajmeri sneaked into a house which was a short distance from the collapse spot. Most people in the locality were out of their homes to help the trapped residents of Rafique Estate. Ajmeri thought he could take advantage of the situation," alleged Dilip Sawant, deputy commissioner of police, zone VI.
"A woman aged 22 was asleep in the house. Ajmeri fondled her and then stole a mobile phone. The woman woke up in time to see Ajmeri fleeing," Sawant said.
She raised an alarm, hearing which her brother woke up. Along with a few other men, he started chasing Ajmeri. The group managed to assault him, but he disappeared in the labyrinthine lanes of Kasaiwada.
The group registered a complaint against him with the Nehru Nagar police. Ajmeri was nabbed in the evening when he emerged from Kasaiwada after remaining in hiding for hours on end. He was booked under charges of molestation, trespass and theft.
Ajmeri's lawyer Prakash Wagh, who appeared for him in the rape and murder case, said: "I have no idea about the Kasaiwada case."
Locals said Ajmeri announced that he was going to the spot to help people, but then he wandered away somewhere else. His family members said they had no idea where he was throughout Thursday. Ajmeri's wife left him a few months before his first arrest. She married another man around the same time as Ajmeri was suspected in the rape and murder of a girl, whose body was found on the terrace of the police quarters building opposite the Nehru Nagar police station.
Police said Ajmeri's brain-mapping tests suggested he had something to do with the crime, though the evidence is not admissible in court. |
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