The two assailants who killed the Ulwe chemist have been nabbed by the Crime Branch from Noida. A year and a half ago, the duo had come to Mumbai with dreams of pursuing a modelling career and had built a social media following of nearly 5 lakh people. To fund their ambition of setting up their own studio, they allegedly accepted a contract killing offer worth Rs 5 lakh.
The arrested accused have been identified as Sukhbir Nirmalsingh Rathiya (24) and Gurpreet Avtar Singh (25), both residents of Fatehabad, Haryana. Rathiya was the main assailant who killed the victim and also the model who had 5 lakh followers. While Singh was his cousin brother who took was ambitious about modelling.
According to police, they were detained from Ghanta Gol Chakkar in the Surajpur area of Gautam Buddha Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh, by a joint team of the Crime Branch and local STF police. The two had been on the run since the murder and were brought back to Navi Mumbai after securing transit remand from the Gautam Buddha Nagar court.
The murder, which took place on May 18 in Ulwe Sector-5, involved 27-year-old Alveena Adamli Khan, a chemist by profession. She was attacked in the middle of the road while returning home late at night, and her throat was slit by the assailants.
The case had been under investigation by Ulwe Police and the Crime Branch, and earlier, they had arrested Khan’s husband, Kishor Singh Rajput, along with two women, Alisha Tyagi and Charanjeet Fattesingh Kaur alias Dimple, who sourced two contract killers. Investigations revealed that Singh had disputes with Khan over financial matters and divorce proceedings and had offered Tyagi a contract of Rs 6 lakh to arrange the killing.
Tyagi along with Dimple, then contacted Rathiya and his cousin brother Singh through their social media network. The duo, who had moved to Mumbai with aspirations of becoming models, saw this as an opportunity to make quick money. "They ordered a knife and masks online, conducted a recce, and murdered Alvina on the night of May 18, fleeing the scene on a motorcycle," said a police officer from Crime Branch.
Following a tip-off, the police traced the absconding assailants to Noida, where they were apprehended by PSI Abhay Shinde and API Santosh Pilane under the guidance of SrPI Umesh Gavali from Unit II of crime branch.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ajaykumar Landge confirmed the arrests and said further investigations are underway.
