The deceased has been identified as Michael Kitchzeba. 'The body was found inside the bathroom of the flat. It was fully naked,' said an officer attached to the Waliv police station where a kidnapping and murder case was registered on May 5
Michael Kitchzeba. Pics/Hanif Patel
A 50-year-old Nigerian was found dead in a mysterious circumstance in Naigaon on May 3. Initially, Waliv police registered an accidental death report (ADR) but after the post mortem report revealed an ‘unnatural’ cause of death, it was converted into a First Information Report (FIR).
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The deceased has been identified as Michael Kitchzeba. “The body was found inside the bathroom of the flat. It was fully naked,” said an officer attached to the Waliv police station where a kidnapping and murder case was registered on May 5.
A total of six people have been arrested from different states from where they were escaping to Bangladesh. During preliminary investigation, the cops have learnt that there was a heavy money transaction between the deceased and his killers.
“There is an election called Community Task Force of Nigeria. We have been told by the killers that the deceased had taken some heavy amount of Rs 50 lakh from the killers. The killers got fumed as the deceased was not returning it. We are yet to get a clear picture once when they are brought to us,” Kailash Barve, senior inspector of Waliv police station, told mid-day.
When Kitchezeba did not respond to the calls of his lenders, they reached his place in Pragati Nagar in Nalasopara from Naigaon on May 3. He was reportedly a cloth merchant, the police said.
“All of them are Nigerians and known to each other. A few days ago there was a fight among Nigerians in the Pragati Nagar area of Nalasopara from where the six men kidnapped the deceased, bundled him into a four-wheeler and drove to Naigaon,” added Barve.
When Kitchezeba did not return home on May 3, his friend approached the police to know his whereabouts. Since his friend knew the men who kidnapped Kitchezeba, a team of Waliv police reached the flat in Naigaon. “It was 8:45 pm on May 3. We knocked on the door but we did not get any response. We, somehow, opened the door and found Kitchezeba in the bathroom. He was fully naked,” said an officer attached to Waliv police station.
“The body was rushed to a nearby hospital for post-mortem. Though initially, an ADR was registered but the post-mortem report revealed that he was badly assaulted by some blunt objects like iron rod repeatedly due to which his lungs were damaged and he died,” said the officer.
After the body was recovered, the cops started to scan the CCTV footage based on the inputs given by the deceased’s friend.
"The cause of death was unnatural, so kidnapping and murder case was registered against the five known and one unknown man seen in the CCTV footage. The accused who have been identified in the CCTV footage include Urges Abu, Kelvin alias Naso, Johnson alias Mofe, Papa, Sexy and one unknown man,” said Barve.
Another officer told mid-day that the flat, from where the body was recovered, was rented by Mofe. “After the killers learnt that Kitchezeba died, they disappeared from the crime scene,” said the officer.
CCTV footage
The cops retrieved the Call Data Records of all the suspects but most of them had kept their cellphones switched off but Kelvin’s cellphone was on for communication. “After the murder, the killers immediately flew down to Bengaluru. When our team reached there, they caught another flight and reached Guwahati…our men continued tracing their locations and reached Guwahati in Assam from there they were heading to Shillong,” said Barve.
“We have learnt that all the accused had planned to enter Bangladesh from Shillong but all of them have been apprehended in the nick of time. After conducting all the legal paper work there, the accused will be brought to Vasai,” Barve said. A few other MBVV policemen have been dispatched to Shillong to bring the arrested Nigerians to Vasai.
Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police have apprised the Nigerian embassy of the development in the case. When asked if their visas and passports validate their stay in India, the officer said, “The status of their visas and passports are awaited as it is being scrutinised,” said an officer.
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