Not a word spoken! How police prepared 300-page charge sheet

Over two months of working with the witnesses and suspects the Pydhonie police had to learn sign language to crack the murder case of deaf and dumb individual Arshad Shaikh To master the language the cops started communicating in sign language with their colleagues and even at home The police are set to file a roughly 300page charge sheet this week which includes statements from about 31 deafanddumb witnessesInvestigators faced significant challenges early on due to the language barrier as all parties involved in the crime were deaf and mute They reviewed numerous videos in sign language to reconstruct the crime and overcome communication difficultiesThe victim Arshad Ali Shaikh left and Jagpalpreeth Singh a native of FaridkotldquoOur officers worked immensely They had learnt sign language for better investigation of the case A team of five officials have been dedicated to this case and we hope that the charge sheet will be filed this weekrdquo said Pydhonie Senior Police Inspector Balkrushan DeshmukhThe case came to light on August 5 when Arshad Shaikh 33 was murdered by his friends Jay Pawan Chawda 32 and Shivjeet Singh 34 at a house in PydhonieThey killed Shaikh with a hammer and broken beer bottles before packing his body into a suitcase The two intended to dispose of the body on an express train at Dadar platform 11 but were intercepted by the railway police Later Shaikhrsquos wife Ruksana was arrested in connection with the casePolice also uncovered the involvement of an NRI Jagpalpreeth Singh 50 a deaf and mute individual from Punjab currently residing in Belgium A blue corner notice has been issued for him and authorities have approached Interpol for further information on his role in the crimeAccording to investigators Chawda was identified as the mastermind behind the murder ldquoTheir community heavily relied on WhatsApp and video calls for communicationrdquo a police official said ldquoWe reviewed around 10 videos including two that showed the killing to piece together the sequence of eventsrdquoPolice officers learned sign language by observing translators and the accused One officer said ldquoWe watched the translators closely and began speaking the same language even in their absence At home we also practiced sign language On the final day of police custody when the translator was unavailable one of our officers translated for the accused in courtrdquoAccused Jay Chawda Accused Shivjeet Singh and The victim Arshad Ali ShaikhOn August 5 Chawda and Singh invited Shaikh to play cricket Afterward the trio went to Chawdarsquos home in Pydhonie where Chawda gave Singh beer In a fit of rage Chawda and Singh strangled Shaikh and then killed him using a hammer They placed Shaikhrsquos body in a bag which Chawda planned to dispose of but he was apprehended by the Dadar Government Railway Police GRP while Singh returned to his home in TitwalaUpon interrogation Chawda revealed that the murder was premeditated having brought the bag from his residence in Virar two days earlier The police learned that Chawda harboured animosity toward Shaikh due to an affair with Shaikhrsquos wifeldquoHe confessed during interrogation that he had been involved with the wife of the deceased for years and claimed Shaikh physically abused her which led him to plot the murderrdquo police saidThe investigation also exposed Jagpalpreeth Singhrsquos involvement A police officer said ldquoWe found a video where Jagpalpreeth was showing his passport and money to Chawda and Singh while they were murdering Shaikh The duo later confirmed that Jagpalpreeth was involved to assert his dominance within the communityrdquoAfter the murder video circulated Jagpalpreeth allegedly posted a video in a WhatsApp group claiming he did not instruct the duo to kill Shaikh only to ldquoteach him a lessonrdquo Police relied on translators to interpret the videoDuring the interrogation it was revealed that Jagpalpreeth held a grudge against Shaikh suspecting that he had an affair with his female friend in India Despite efforts to locate him Jagpalpreeth remains in Belgium and police have issued a blue notice to track his movements Officers visited his native place in Punjab but were unable to find his exact address