Malwani parking murder: Locals demand arrest of accused, block road

The family friends and locals on Sunday blocked a road in suburban Mumbai demanding immediate arrest of the accused in Malwani parking murder caseAn illegal parking mafia dispute in Malwani had last month claimed the life of a young cab driver who was brutally attacked and stabbed to deathThe deceased identified as Sahil Shahid Gujjar 27 a resident of Ganesh Nagar Kandivli West supported his family by driving a rented Ola cabHe was assaulted near Lagoon Road Plot No 50 Malwani an area notorious for illegal parking operationsThe family alleged that even after nearly a month the arrest of two accused whose names were added in the FIR as the investigations proceeded by the police but they were not yet made by the policeOn Sunday afternoon the locals joined the family in a protest march demanding the arrest of two more peopleThe protest caused major traffic congestion Many vehicles were seen stuck and people had a hard time reaching their destinationsThe crowd also raised slogans asking the police to take actionAccording to police sources the incident began when the deceased returned after finishing his shift and came to park his car in the parking area in front of the office The car had no gas which led to an argument Accused Owais Sheikh who apart from managing parking also drove an Ola cab at night clashed with the victim over the issue The quarrel soon escalated into a physical fightAccording to the FIR filed by his younger brother Adil Shahid Gujjar 19 the incident began around 7 pm on August 15 when Adil received a call from a friend about Sahil being involved in a fight Soon after another acquaintance informed him that Sahil had clashed with Farooq Sheikh and Owais Sheikh who managed the parking lot and had suffered a nose injury Reaching the spot at about 8 pm Adil saw Sahil bleeding from his nose Sahil told him that Farooq and Owais had argued with him over parking punched him and warned him not to casually refer to their associates but to address them respectfully as ldquoPandeybhairdquo and ldquoSajidbhairdquoAs Adil attempted to take Sahil to a hospital the situation escalated Farooq and Owais allegedly returned on a Suzuki Bergman scooter marked with the number ldquo313rdquo in red accompanied by four to five unidentified men armed with iron rods Opening the scooterrsquos trunk they pulled out weapons Farooq held an iron rod while Owais wielded a chopper Without provocation Owais allegedly stabbed Sahil in the stomachWhen Adil tried to intervene Farooq swung the rod at him but he dodged Other men restrained him and beat him with fists and rods No bystander came forward Sahil collapsed bleeding heavily his intestines protruding from the stab wound as the assailants fled with their weapons The police said that Owais admitted himself to a hospital and told the cops that he had been assaulted by the deceased