Mumbai: Man Arrested for Alleged Murder After Drunken Dispute Over Rickshaw Fare in Kurla

On August 12, around 1:30 am, a body was found outside the Palace Residency Bar near Kurla Police Station. Initially classified as an accidental death by the Kurla Police, the case took a turn when injury marks on the body led to suspicions of foul play. Following an investigation, Crime Branch Unit 5 arrested Saif Zahid Ali at Kalyan Railway Station.

During the Kurla Police investigation, it was revealed that the deceased was identified as Muslim Chakkan Ali (29). Saif and Chakkan were friends who had come to Mumbai from Gonda in Uttar Pradesh seven days earlier. Both worked as sewing laborers in a textile factory in Dharavi. On the night of Sunday, the two, intoxicated, took a rickshaw from Dharavi 90 Feet Road to the Palace Residency Bar on LBS Road. A dispute arose between Saif and Chakkan over a rickshaw fare of 30 rupees. In the heat of the moment, Saif pushed Chakkan, causing him to fall and hit his head, leading to his death.

Immediately after the incident, around 1:30 am on August 12, 2024, the accused Saif fled the scene, leaving the body behind, and went to Dadar Railway Station. From there, he took a fast local train to Kalyan Railway Station. The Crime Branch's Unit 5 police caught the accused Saif at around 6 pm on Monday evening when he was about to board the Gorakhpur Express from Kalyan, heading towards Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.

After finding the body, the Unit 5 team examined the CCTV footage outside the bar, which revealed that the deceased and another individual were involved in a dispute around 1 am. Injury marks were also found on the right side of the deceased's forehead. The accused, Saif Zahid Ali, is a resident of Dhanohari  village in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh.