Nashik: A suspicious vehicle proved crucial in cracking the Sept 22 murder of a pregnant woman found charred in a forest near Dhule.
Dhule’s Mohadi Nagar police tracked the vehicle and linked mobile numbers over 200 km to Jamkhed in Ahilyanagar. The partially charred body was found in a secluded, hilly forest near Gartadbari along the Chalisgaon-Dhule highway on Sept 22 after police received a Dial 112 call. Mohadi Nagar police registered a murder case on Sept 23. Police arrested 38-year-old Sarfaraz, alias Shafiq Aleem Momin, and 31-year-old Arif, alias Khuja Asif Shaikh, along with Swati, alias Aarti Kurhade (28), and Laxmi Pawar (30). The four accused were arrested on Saturday and produced before a Dhule court, which remanded them in police custody till Oct 1.
The postmortem revealed that the woman died of shock caused by burns.
Police said Momin has previous criminal cases against him in Dharashiv and Beed districts. Four people, including two women, have since been arrested, and police are searching for two others. Police suspect she was still alive when petrol was poured on her, and she was set ablaze. Her unborn child also died. Dhule SP Vishal Anand formed four teams from the local crime branch (LCB) and Mohadi Nagar police station to investigate the murder. Police analysed its registration details and the mobile numbers associated with it. The trail eventually led them to Jamkhed and four suspects. Pawar, who is from Dharashiv, works at the same art centre While Kurhade operates an art centre in Jamkhed. Momin and Shaikh are both drivers from Dharashiv and are linked to the art centre too.
Police said the deceased woman was around three months pregnant and suspect a relationship dispute was behind the murder.