Bollywood Starlet Laila, Family Shot Dead: Accused
Jammu, Jul 5 (PTI): 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 told PTI.
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, 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.