Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

MUMBAI: Parvez Haq, a doctor with a public hospital, was arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) crime branch on Saturday for the murder of his wife, Rehmat. Parvez’s brother, Tabrez, and a cousin, Hashib Shaikh, were earlier arrested in the case.

Four-month pregnant Rehmat’s body was found stuffed into a suitcase at the Sandhurst Road railway station on March 15.

Parvez was traced to Madhya Pradesh (MP), where he had fled with his second wife.

Parvez and Rehmat, from Motihari in Bihar, moved to a rented flat in Mumbra, after a nikah in Delhi. Tabrez (21), a college student, stayed in a hostel, while Hashib (20), who does embroidery, was in Govandi.

"Rehmat was livid when she found out that Parvez had secretly married a woman in MP. The couple had frequent fights and Parvez would hit her. Parvez then teamed up with his brothers and plotted her murder," a police official said.

In February, Parvez left for Delhi on the pretext of buying a house. He instructed his wife to vacate their Mumbra flat and pack up in a month. On March 6, Rehmat went with Hashib to Delhi to join her husband. Hashib arranged her stay in a guest house, but Rehmat soon realized that Parvez had not purchased any flat in Delhi and something was amiss.

"Rehmat was brought back to Mumbai and on March 14, the three strangled her. They had purchased the suitcase which was used to stuff her body. We are yet to locate the spot where Rehmat was actually killed," said assistant commissioner of police Dilip Chavan. "The brothers loaded the suitcase on to a Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus-bound local. Around 2 am, commuters spotted it in the train and dumped it at Sandhurst Road station."

A few days later, a woman from Mumbra saw Rehmat’s photograph in newspapers and identified her.

She recognized the salwar kameez as Rehmat had it altered by a tailor in her presence. The woman took the cops to the flat but it was vacant.

The police then began hunting for Rehmat’s relatives. They found some cellphone numbers from where Rehmat used to receive calls. One of the numbers was tracked down to the couple’s family friend, who told the police where Tabrez studied.

Tabrez was picked up last Friday along with Hashib.

The police got Parvez’s cellphone number and tracked him down to Ratlam in MP, where he had gone to fetch his second wife. But by the time the police reached, Parvez had moved to Khandwa with his second wife. On Saturday, the police nabbed Parvez in Khandwa and brought him to Mumbai on Sunday.