Solving Crime: How a blood-soaked shirt, CCTV footage helped Mumbai police arrest accused in actor Kritika Chaudhary’s murder case
While probing the murder of Kritika Chaudhary, the Mumbai police also scanned her phone and reached out to clothes retailers.
4 min read
As per the police, demonetisation had come into effect when he was released on bail, and as he faced a cash crunch, Khan had started visiting Chaudhary's house seeking money. (Representational Image)On June 12, 2017, the Mumbai police found the decomposed body of actor Kritika Suresh Chaudhary at her home in the Four Bungalows area in suburban Andheri (West).
Nearly a month later, officers from the Amboli Police Station managed to nab the two accused, including a delivery person for a drug peddler and his fruit vendor friend, with the help of a blood-stained shirt found at the crime spot, blurred CCTV footage, and Chaudhary’s contacts. The police arrested the two accused on July 10 that year for killing the television and film actor hailing from Haridwar allegedly over a dispute over Rs 6,000 she owed to the accused.
After neighbours complained of a foul smell emanating from inside her home, the police on June 12, 2017, reached the Bhairavnath SRA building near the Regional Transport Office (RTO) where Chaudhary lived and found her body. They said Chaudhary had been killed at least two to three days earlier. The police said they recovered a blood-soaked shirt belonging to foreign brand ‘Royal Premium’ near her body, along with a pair of brass knuckles allegedly used to kill her. They also found that her jewellery was missing.
As the police started their investigation into the murder, blurred CCTV footage revealed that two men entered Chaudhary’s building on June 8. The police also inquired with all major retailers about the shirt’s origin, but could not find any clue. They said the security guard, a witness in the case, identified one of the men in the CCTV footage as Shakeel Nasim Khan (then 33), who was wearing the said shirt. The police claimed the shirt was a crucial piece of evidence to prove Khan’s involvement in the crime.
Besides CCTV footage, the police also scanned her cellphone contacts and questioned those who were in touch with her, and zeroed in on Khan from the Govandi area, who had been in contact with Chaudhary for more than a year.
Khan had been arrested by the Mumbai police’s Anti-Narcotics Cell in August 2016 in another case for delivering Mephedrone and was released on bail in November of that year. Before his arrest in that case, Khan had allegedly supplied drugs to Chaudhary and she owed him Rs 6,000 for the same. As per the police, demonetisation had come into effect when he was released on bail, and as he faced a cash crunch, Khan had started visiting Chaudhary’s house seeking money. They said she was allegedly stalling the payment.
On the day of the incident, Khan allegedly asked his friend Badshah alias Basudas Makamlal Das (then 40), a fruit vendor from Nalasopara who was also in need of money, to accompany him to Chaudhary’s house.
As per police, when Chaudhary said she would pay him later, Khan hit her on the head with brass knuckles, changed his blood-soaked shirt by leaving it on the floor, and wore a fresh one that he was carrying with him.
Before leaving, the accused allegedly switched on the air conditioner to mask the smell of the decomposing body. Khan then moved from Nalasopara to other places and later stayed with a relative in Panvel, from where he was arrested, after which Das was detained from Govandi. The police found the jewellery belonging to Chaudhary in Khan’s possession and also recovered the key with which they locked the door of the actor’s flat from Das.
The Dindoshi Sessions Court found their prima facie involvement in the crime, and rejected bail pleas of the two accused on September 24, 2018. In December 2024, the Bombay High Court rejected Das’s bail plea.
You May Like
