Laila Khan murder mystery persists; 3 more accused

Zeenews Bureau

Mumbai: The mystery plot of Laila Khan has thickened after the prime accused Parvez Iqbal Tak (Laila’s step father) accused three others in the disappearance and the consequent alleged murder of Laila and her family. Pervez Tak, whom J&K and Mumbai police claim to have detained in Bagalore has reportedly named Ahmed, a friend of co-accused Asif Sheikh; Wafa Khan alias Sonu, Laila’s friend; and the watchman at the Igatpuri farmhouse Shadgir, a Kishtwar native and Tak’s friend. Jammu and Kashmir IGP Dilbagh Singh talking to a news channel confirmed that that Asif Sheikh has been arrested in Mumbai. And now the police plans to investigate the role of Asif Sheikh in the murder of Laila Khan and her family. Certain section of the media reports that Sheikh married Laila's mother after her divorce. Tak in his statement before Kishtwar police agreed that he earlier dodged the interrogator, as he feared threat to his life from Asif Sheikh and his associate. Tak is also reported to have confessed that the murder of the starlet was conducted by Asif Sheikh and his associates in Mumbai on February 9, 2011 in presence of him at actress Igatpuri farm house and later buried their bodies some 130 km from Mumbai in a forest area near Igatpuri. Tak also revealed that Asif Sheikh and his associates first tried to remove the blood strains from the floor of the forum house, but later set the part of the house on fire to destroy the evidences. On Thursday, Nadir Shah Patel, father of the missing Bollywood starlet Laila Khan, challenged the claim of her step-father Parvez Iqbal Tak that the actress, along with four of her family members, was killed near Mumbai in 2011. Referring to a mysterious fire a few months ago which partly damaged their bungalow in Igatpuri, a hill-station in Maharashtra`s Nashik district, around 130 km from Mumbai, Patel contended that there could a link between Laila and her family`s disappearance and the fire, but declined to elaborate.