Thane Police Crack Bhiwandi Boy's Kidnapping And Murder Case; Accused Caught In Uttarakhand After 5 Years

The Property Cell of Thane Police has solved a five-year-old kidnapping and murder case registered at Bhiwandi City Police Station by arresting a 35-year-old man from Uttarakhand on April 8. The accused has been identified as Gulam Rabbani Shaikh, who previously resided in Bhiwandi and was working as a maulana at a mosque in Himachal Pradesh.

An official from Thane Police stated that they obtained permission to inspect the location where the missing boy was allegedly buried inside the accused’s shop in Bhiwandi. On Wednesday, a team comprising Thane Police officers, forensic experts, revenue department officials, and doctors reached the site. Laborers were called in to excavate the shop floor, where human remains were discovered. These remains were preserved and will be sent to the forensic laboratory in Kalina, Mumbai.

The case dates back to November 2020, when a 16-year-old boy named Soeb Shaikh from Bhiwandi went missing. Investigators believe he may have witnessed Gulam committing an unnatural act with another boy. After Soeb disappeared, his parents searched for him but were unable to trace him. They eventually lodged a kidnapping complaint at Bhiwandi City Police Station against an unknown person.

In 2023, another minor and his parents approached the police and filed an FIR against Gulam under Section 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant sections 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Gulam was summoned to the police station but fled before the inquiry could begin. The police then alerted informers, deployed technical surveillance, and began monitoring his movements.

Based on technical intelligence, the police located Gulam in April this year. A team from the Thane Police Property Cell was dispatched to Uttarakhand, where he had been hiding under a false identity. He was apprehended and produced before a local court, which granted a transit remand. He was then brought back to Thane and produced before the Bhiwandi court, which remanded him to police custody until April 19 for further investigation.

“During the preliminary interrogation, the accused, Gulam, confessed to murdering the missing boy and burying him inside the shop. Prima facie, the motive appears to be that the victim witnessed the accused engaging in obscene acts with another boy,” said the investigating officer.