The three accused were nabbed from Govandi at around 3 am on Sunday when they were allegedly under the influence of drugs, according to Mr Gaikwad. (Representational image)

Mumbai: The Pydhonie police early on Sunday arrested three persons, including a 23-year-old woman, for allegedly robbing and killing Iqbal Darvesh (72), the son of former underworld figure Jenabai ‘Daruwali’, two days ago. The trio, including Rahat Pathan who is the sister of the deceased’s third wife, are suspected to be drug addicts and had carried out the crime for money, according to the police.

The police is verifying the exact nature of Iqbal’s relationship with Rahat, who was on friendly terms with him and used to frequent his residence at Israeli Mohalla, Pydhonie. The police tracked down the three accused after an examination of Iqbal’s mobile phone’s call detail record, which showed his telephonic interactions with Rahat hours before he was killed.  

Rahat is accused of visiting the deceased after 11.30 pm on Friday night with her two accomplices, Muzammil Shaikh (26) and Mustafa Khan (28). The trio had allegedly used pieces of cloth including Rahat’s dupatta to suffocate Darvesh, preventing him from breathing as a result of which he died due to asphyxia, said the case’s investigating officer, police sub-inspector Jayant Gaikwad of Pydhonie police station. Iqbal’s tiffin containing his dinner for Friday night had been delivered to him at 11.30 pm Friday night by an aide of his grandson, Salman Kamal Darvesh. The murder was discovered the next day by Salman who then alerted the police. A police team reached Iqbal’s flat and found the tiffin in a white plastic bag lying “untouched”, Mr Gaikwad said.

The three accused were nabbed from Govandi at around 3 am on Sunday when they were allegedly under the influence of drugs, according to Mr Gaikwad. The police said the trio’s motive could be monetary as they took away cash and jewellery worth Rs 30,000. Dnyaneshwar Chavan, DCP Zone-2, said, “The motive has not been completely established as of now, but the primary motive of the murder is robbery, but we are also looking into the personal relationship angle. The female accused, Rahat, used to frequently visit the deceased’s house, and we’re working on that angle of investigation too”.