Mid-Day

Mumbai, Jun 21: Mohammed Sheikh (22) had gone to Dubai to work six months ago. There he fell in love with a girl, Aparna (15, name changed) and, on June 15, brought her with him to Mumbai, without her parents’ knowledge.

However, their romance was short-lived, as a faxed letter from her mother to the Mumbai police landed her and her salesman lover in Kurla police station on Tuesday.

Sheikh, a resident of Martin Pereira Chawl in Jari Mari on Andheri-Kurla Road, went to Dubai in search of work six months ago. He lived there with his sister, after finding a job as a salesman.

There, he fell in love with Aparna, the daughter of a Hindu father and a Christian mother, who lived there with her parents.

After a five-month romance, Sheikh and Aparna decided to elope. When Aparna’s mother found out about this, she wrote to the Mumbai Police and requested them to look for her daughter.

After investigating the case for a couple of days, the Crime Branch spotted the couple yesterday afternoon near Sheikh’s residence in Jari Mari.

The two were brought to Kurla police station for further questioning. Sheikh was sent for medical examination to Nagpada Police Hospital after he was arrested on charges of kidnapping under Section 163.

Aparna’s grandfather Ashok Masi, who is the complainant in the case, arrived from Delhi two days ago and has been handed custody of Aparna.