HUBBALLI: Acting swiftly on the case of murder where a 20- year old girl was found dead on the city outskirts, the Dharwad police have managed to arrest the accused within 12 hours of the incident.
On Wednesday morning, the body of Zakiya Mulla was found in an agricultural field near the Hubballi-Dharwad bypass road.
Dharwad SP Gunjan Arya said multiple teams were formed after the body was found and police have arrested one Sabir Mulla, 22, who is a driver by profession on the charges of murder. The SP said that the help of locals and police officers from Hubballi was amendable. The police have recovered a car and mobile phones.
According to the police sources, the accused Sabir was known to the victim and called to meet her on Tuesday evening. He drove her towards the highway connecting from the Toll-Naka junction in Dharwad. It said that the couple had an argument in the car and the accused stabbed her killing her instantly. Later he drove around with her body in the car and dumped it in an agricultural field in the early hours of Wednesday.
"The accused was supposed to get engaged with Zakiya next month. Both were known to each other and families are close as well. It's not clean why the couple were fighting. After dumping her body, the accused returned to the spot during morning hours and he was noticed by the locals. The investigating team checked the mobile locations of Zakiya and her close relatives and friends, the mobile tower location of the accused was found in the same area. This led the police to zero in on Sabir Mulla," the sources said.
Several theories are circulating on social media, but the police have not revealed any details so far. The exact motive behind the murder remains unclear, and investigations are under way from all angles.
"The investigation is still underway. We are checking from all the angles and also talking to the family members. Its said that the girl has sent a message to her father in the night stating he wishes to end her life. However its being checked whether the message was sent by Zakiya or the accused himself," added the sources.