Married woman kills lover with husband’s help, stuffs body in drum before dumping it in Vasai; two arrested

What began as late-night conversations and a romantic relationship ended in a grisly murder after a 26-year-old engineer was allegedly beaten to death, stuffed into a drum and dumped in a secluded drain in Maharashtra’s Vasai when he stopped sending money to his lover, police said.

The Mumbra police have arrested a 25-year-old woman and her brother for allegedly murdering the man with the help of her husband and another accomplice. The woman’s husband and his friend are currently absconding.

The victim, identified as Arbaz Maqsood Ali Khan, was a resident of Mumbra and worked as an engineer with a prominent real estate developer in Dombivli.

How the relationship turned deadly

According to investigators, Khan had been in a relationship with Mehajabeen Khatun Ekran Sheikh, a resident of Vasai, since 2021. Police said the two were initially close and frequently communicated, but over time Mehajabeen allegedly began seeking financial help from Khan, who regularly transferred money to her account.

Police believe tensions escalated after Khan allegedly stopped sending her money every month, leading Mehajabeen to allegedly conspire with her husband Hasan Sheikh, her brother Tariq Sheikh and Tariq’s friend Mojjam Pathan to kill him.

How police cracked the case

Police said Khan went to Dadar on April 3 to collect cash for his company but never returned home. After his father lodged a missing complaint at the Mumbra police station, investigators examined his call records and phone location data, which reportedly placed him near Mehajabeen’s residence in Vasai on the day he disappeared.

Investigators also found that Khan had transferred ₹50,000 to Mehajabeen a day before he went missing.

During questioning, Mehajabeen initially denied involvement but later allegedly confessed, police said. According to investigators, she had called Khan to her residence in Bhoidapada, Vasai, where an argument over money broke out.

Police alleged that after discovering Khan had no valuables with him, the three male accused tied his hands and legs and assaulted him with a plastic pipe, causing fatal head injuries.

The accused then allegedly stuffed Khan’s body into a drum and dumped it in a drain in an isolated area under the Valiv police station limits.

Mehajabeen and Tariq were arrested on May 7, while Hasan Sheikh and Mojjam Pathan remain on the run.

Police have registered a case under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including charges related to kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence.