Elderly businessman stabbed to death over property dispute; his son, business partner held

Mumbai, Sep 23 (PTI) Police have arrested a man for allegedly hiring a contract killer and getting his 70-year-old businessman father stabbed to death over a property dispute in Mumbai's Kandivali area, officials said.

The incident took place on Sunday, and the police have arrested the victim's son and his business partner and a search was on for the third accused, they said.

The deceased, Mohammad Syed (70), owned a metal factory in the Government Industrial Estate at Charkop in Kandivali.

On Sunday morning, Syed went to his as usual. But around 12 noon, he was found dead there with multiple stab wounds, an official said.

During their probe, the police found two men entering the factory premises in the morning. CCTV footage showed them remaining inside for nearly an hour before fatally attacking Syed with knives. After the murder, the assailants dumped the weapon in a water tank inside the factory, which was later recovered by police, he said.

A special team tracked down one of the attackers to Navi Mumbai and arrested him. The accused, identified as Mohammad Islam (26), confessed to the crime. However, when the police asked him who had ordered the killing, he named the victim's elder son, Hameed Syed (41) and his business partner and close friend Shanu Chaudhary (40), the official said.

Following that the police arrested both Hameed and Chaudhary, who was one of the two killers. Efforts are now underway to trace the second hired killer, he said.

The motive behind the murder was a long-standing financial dispute. Chaudhary had invested around Rs one crore in Syed's glass factory in partnership with Hameed. However, Syed allegedly refused to share the profit amount and even put the factory premises up for sale, which enraged Hameed and Chaudhary. The factory had also been shut for the past one month, he said.

The duo allegedly plotted the murder and paid contract killer Islam Rs 6.5 lakh to eliminate Syed. Police are continuing their probe to apprehend the absconding assailant and gather further evidence in the case, official added. PTI ZA NP