Mumbai: Man arrested for killing 12-year-old Wadala boy

The Wadala Truck Terminus police have arrested a 39yearold man solving the murder case of a 12yearold boy who was sexually assaulted and strangled to death The boy who went missing in January was found in March After nearly five months of investigation The police apprehended the suspect in Delhi who had previously jumped parole from Calcutta and fled to MumbaiThe arrested suspect has been identified as Bipul Sikari who was taken into custody in Delhi on August 21 and brought to Mumbai He was produced in court and remanded to police custody until August 31 The accused has confessed to the crime We are continuing our investigation said Prashant Kadam Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone 4Given his criminal history and prior conviction we will gather all necessary evidence to ensure the case is expedited in a fasttrack court and the accused receives the strictest punishment Kadam addedThe Missing CaseOn January 28 2024 the Wadala TT police registered a kidnapping case after a 12yearold boy went missing from the Shanti Nagar area On March 5 the police found the decomposed dead body of the boy near a mangrove in an isolated place in Wadala Accordingly the police registered a murder case under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code After the boy went missing locals brought the accused to the police station but he fled and was absconding for five monthsBackground of the accusedThe accused previously resided in Delhi However during the investigation it was discovered that Bipul had murdered his wife in 2012 and was convicted of the crime in West Bengal He was imprisoned but released on parole during the COVID19 pandemic Bipul jumped parole and with the help of a friend relocated to Mumbai where he began living in a rented place in the Wadala TT arealdquoHe was living next door to the boy and was known to the family During his interrogation he admitted to having a liking for transgender individuals and frequently visited transgender sex workers He claimed that he had sodomized the boy including on the day of the incident The minor told the accused that if his mother asked he would reveal that Bipul had sodomised him Fearing exposure the accused strangled the boy to death and disposed of the body in the mangroves We will now add further charges of sodomy and sexual assault to the caserdquo said a police officerEscaped across statesAfter fleeing the Wadala TT police station the accused travelled to Antop Hill and then to Sion From there he took a train to Kalyan followed by an express train to Pune and then to Delhi From Delhi he moved to Samba in Jammu After spending a few days in Jammu he visited Vaishno Devi Haridwar and then went to Shamli Loni and Bhopura in Uttar Pradesh before finally returning to DelhildquoHe didnrsquot use any mobile phone to ensure he remained successfully hidden and avoided getting caught by the police He also started working in a cement unit where he was earning R200 to R300 per dayrdquo the officer addedPolice investigationAfter the murder case was registered the police formed eight teams that visited nine states including Delhi Jammu Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal Telangana Haryana Punjab and Tamil NaduWe primarily focused on Delhi and Jammu as the accused had connections in these states In Jammu his mother resides and in Delhi he was working as a pimp in the redlight area We developed sources in both areas and kept in touch with them On August 21 a pimp who was our informer informed us that the accused had returned to the Delhi red light area The pimp then offered him drinks and with the help of the Delhi police we detained and later took him into custody said a police officerThe Wadala TT police now suspect that the accused may have committed additional murders in the vicinity during that time However teams are currently investigating to gather more evidence on the matterThe police also revealed that the accused had a serious criminal record in Kolkata and was previously a member of a gang