Gaddaar: Ek Prem Katha

Amandeep Banvait's friends killed him because he seemingly broke their trust and fell in love with their sister

In yet another case of murder at the hands of friends (see box), a teenager was killed by three of his friends last week because they thought he was in love with the sister of one of the boys.

Fahar Fayaz Ahmed Sheikh (21) had allegedly warned Amandeep Banvait (14) to stay away from his 17-year-old sister. But when Amandeep did not pay heed to the warnings, Fahar and two of their mutual friends Farhan Siraj Shaikh (20) and Salim Abdul Sattar Malbarwala (20) kidnapped and killed Amandeep.

The trio took him to a lonely spot near Mauje-Kolat village off Khalapur Taluka in Raigad on May 18, where they strangled him. They then smashed stones on his head and face, so that the body is not identified. Shahebsingh Banvait, Amandeep's father, said, "My son had gone for tuitions. He used to return by 12.30 pm, but when he did not come home by 4 pm, I started searching for him. Later that night, I filed a missing persons complaint."

Tailor-made

Two days later, the stench from the decomposing body alerted the locals, who called the police. Since the body was in no condition to be identified, the police had to track the victim through other means. They found their first clue in the shirt Amandeep had been wearing. The label gave the name and address of Harish Tailors in Kurla.

The Khalapur police then contacted Vinoba Bhave police station in Kurla where, incidentally, Shahebsingh had filed the missing persons complaint.

Said Shahebsingh, "The police asked me if we wore clothes stitched by Harish Tailors. I told them he was our regular tailor. The police described the embroidered shirt worn by my son and showed me the watch, bag and other items they had retrieved. I identified them, but they asked me not to see the body, as it was totally decomposed."

Tracking the killers

When asked about Amandeep's friends, Shahebsingh told the police about the three accused and how he had warned Amardeep against meeting them. Police investigations revealed that they were the last ones seen with Amardeep.

Assistant Police Inspector S Kamble of Vinoba Bhave police station said, "We picked them up on suspicion. They confessed to planning the murder and killing Amandeep in Raigad."

The three accused were arrested on Sunday. Two of them were sent to police custody till June 2 and the third till May 29.

When friends turned foes
>>In February this year, Mukeem Khan, an HSC science student at Rizvi college, was killed by two close friends. His body was found in a decomposed state in a gutter in Kalina. The accused asked for a ransom of Rs 3 crore from his father, who owns a building in Khar.
>>In August 2007, Adnan Patrawala (16) was kidnapped by four of his friends for a ransom of
Rs 2 crore. However, on learning from TV news channels that the police were looking for them, they killed Adnan and dumped his body on Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai.

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