Solving Crime: How an alert cab driver’s tip led Mumbai police to swiftly arrest suspect in model’s murder

The taxi driver’s presence of mind helped the police arrest the suspect in a murder case of a 20-year-old woman model within a few hours. The body of Mansii Dixit, a model who hailed from Rajasthan, was found stuffed inside the abandoned bag.

Using the licence plate number of the auto-rickshaw provided by the cab driver and the footage from CCTV along the road, the police traced the movement of the man. As per the police, CCTV footage showed him getting off the auto-rickshaw before taking another cab to his residence.

The same evening, the police arrested Syed Muzzamil Hasan Sirajul Hasan, then 19, at his residence in Millat Nagar, Oshiwara, Andheri (West). The police booked him for offences of murder and attempted destruction of evidence. He allegedly hit Dixit with a stool, strangled her, and stuffed her body in a travel bag before dumping it in Malad.

In his statement to the police, Chavan said he picked up Hasan from his apartment with his large “chocolate-coloured” travel bag. Hasan initially requested to be taken to the airport, however, he changed the destination to Link Road in Malad.

After reaching Malad, he got out of the cab with the bag and lingered on the roadside. Chavan observed Hasan’s actions through the cab’s rearview mirror from some distance, and saw him get into an auto-rickshaw and leave the bag behind.

During the investigation, the police found that Hasan had initially booked another cab from his residence, which he cancelled. Gajanan Budukhale, the other cab driver, corroborated Chavan’s account.

Budukhale told the police he received a booking around 2.22 pm, and after arriving at his building in Millat Nagar, he saw Hasan exiting the lift with a large bag. When Hasan sought help for loading the bag into the car, Budukhale questioned its weight. Hasan did not respond, and instead went back to the lift and cancelled the cab’s booking.

The building watchman also corroborated Chavan and Budukhale’s accounts while CCTV footage from the building confirmed Hasan’s presence with the bag.

Since his arrest in 2018, Hasan remains in custody while his trial is yet to begin. Noting the evidence in the case based on the investigation, the sessions court as well as the Bombay High Court have refused to grant him bail in April 2019 and August 2022, respectively.