Jammu/Mumbai, July 5 : Pakistani-origin Bollywood starlet Laila Khan, who had been missing since the last 11 months, was murdered along with her family members in Maharashtra last year, the main accused in her kidnapping case has claimed.
During interrogation, the main accused Parvez Iqbal Tak told police that Laila, her mother, sister and a friend were killed in Maharashtra in February last year, Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Doda-Ramban range, Gareeb Dass said.
They were killed by gunshots, Tak, who is also a family friend, told interrogators, which also included Mumbai Police team of Crime Branch.However, Dass said it was difficult to arrive at a
conclusion as the bodies are yet to be found.
“Unless we get the bodies, we cannot for sure say,” he said, adding, “We cannot give further details as the probe is in progress”.“We are working on other leads too,” he said.
Laila, whose real name is Reshma Patel, was last seen in a movie ‘Wafa' with actor Rajesh Khanna in 2008.
Mumbai Police had yesterday registered a kidnapping case against two persons in connection with the case.The case was registered on the complaint of Laila's father Nadir Patel.
The accused duo of Parvez Tak and Aasif Shaikh have been booked under section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC.
According to the complaint filed by Patel, Laila, along with six other family members, including her mother Shelina Patel (50), elder sister Hazmina, twin siblings Zara and Imran, and a relative, were allegedly kidnapped by the two accused in February last from her flat in suburban Oshiwara.
Soon after their disappearance in two four-wheelers, a Scorpio and an Outlander, Patel had registered a missing persons complaint. But yesterday a fresh complaint of kidnapping was lodged against Parvez and Aasif, police said.
Take had previously misled police by saying that Laila along with her family had escaped to Dubai on fake passports. However, when police worked on this lead they found no entries at the airport in her name.
On June 21, Jammu and Kashmir Police had arrested Tak, a local forest contractor who had gone underground after a SUV belonging to Laila was recovered from his place in Kishtwar town.
The Mitsubishi Outlander, with a Maharashtra registration number, was parked inside a shop, which had been taken on rent by Tak.
Tak, who contested the 2008 Assembly elections from Inderwal constituency, was absconding since then.
J and K Police, after the recovery of the vehicle, had contacted Mumbai Police to find out the owner of the vehicle. The vehicle, registered in the name of Laila's mother, was also linked to some crime-related incident in Maharashtra. Parvez Taq is currently in custody of Jammu and Kashmir Police.
He had earlier told police that Laila Khan was in Dubai and has married a Dubai-based businessman, said to be a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim's gang. Now, Parvez Tak has changed his statement. He told police that on February 9, 2011, he and his two friends first killed Laila in her Igatpuri farmhouse near Nashik and burnt the house by sprinkling petrol.
Mumbai ATS (anti-terrorism squad) and Crime Branch officials have said they are taking Parvez's statements with a pinch of salt, because he was constantly changing his statements.
The Crime Branch will now take the statements of Sonu and Afghan Khan, named by Parvez Tak. Both are residents of Oshiwara, Andheri West.
Sources said, Afghan Khan, Asif Sheikh alias Sonu and Parvez Ahmed tak, along with two other criminals told Laila Khan in February last year that she was being sent to Dubai because her life was at risk in Mumbai.
Laila, her brother and mother, sources said, were taken to a lonely area near Mumbai, where the two sharpshooters shot all five dead and the bodies were secretly buried.
The motive behind the multiple killings appears to be the possession of the prime property owned by Laila Khan, police sources said.
The most suprising aspect of this case is that Mumbai police registered the kidnapping case nearly one-and-a-half year after the Pakistan-origin starlet went missing along with her family members. The kidnapping case was filed against two persons, including her family friend who is currently in custody of Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The case was registered in Oshiwara police station on complaint of Laila's father Nadir Patel, and the investigations are now taken over by the Crime Branch, police said.
The accused duo of Parvez Tak and Aasif Shaikh have been booked under section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Police said that the crime branch will soon approach a concerned court here seeking a production warrant that would enable them to take his custody.
Laila was last seen in Bollywood movie ‘Wafa' with actor Rajesh Khanna.
