This is a thread on Phiroz Rustomji Daruwala, a cold-blooded serial killer who brutally killed an elderly family in a #murder case that rocked #Mumbai and #Maharashtra 50 years ago. The criminal also planned to abduct matka king Ratan Khatri!
#crime #truecrime #murdermysteries
#crime #truecrime #murdermysteries
2 February 1971. The neighbours of Darabshah Sethna (82), a resident of Jehangir Mansion, near Metro Cinema at Dhobi Talao in #Mumbai were intrigued. The main door of his 5th floor was locked, which was unprecedented as the family never went out together.
Sethna was a bachelor. Gaibai Master (72), her husband Nasserwanji (65) and their servant Bawla (55) stayed with Sethna and cared for him. Sethna was a managing clerk at a reputed solicitor's firm in #Mumbai.
The neighbors informed Gaibai's neice. But since she did not have the keys to the main door, it was opened in the presence of the police. Everyone was shocked at what they found inside.
Sethna's body was lying in an easy chair in the hall. In the other room, the bodies of the other three were found. They had been stabbed to death. The elderly victims had been stabbed for an incredible 147 times! The killer was either unstable or looking for revenge.
The body of the servant Bawla was found under a cot, which meant that he might have hid himself there to escape the assailant or may have sought refuge there while writhing in pain from his stab wounds.
It was found that Gaibai's jewellery like her pearl necklace with a diamond pendant, a pearl brooch, a bracelet with diamonds, emeralds and pearls, her gold necklace and bangles were missing.
A few days later, some children playing in the premises of the B.J.P.C. High School at Charni Road found a blood-stained gupti (a long dagger used for stabbing or thrusting). This was just 2 km from Jehangir mansion and the police realised that this could be the murder weapon.
The #MumbaiPolice called on people to contact DCP Ramakant Kulkarni or ACP Basil Kane, who led the Mumbai Police, Crime Branch, CID team probing the case, in case they had any leads about the killings.
The investigations revealed the name of 30-year-old Pheroz Rustomji Daruwala. The wiry bespectacled Daruwala was the deceased Nasserwanji Master's friend. He used to reside at Andheri.
A Parsi like Sethna and the Masters', Daruwala had divorced his first wife and married a Roman Catholic, which had estranged him from his parents.
Daruwala was contesting as an Independent candidate from the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, where H.R Gokhale of the #Congress was also in the fray. Gokhale was later the union law minister in PM #IndiraGandhi's cabinet.
Daruwala's election symbol was the scales of justice. This would prove to be ironic later! He had told the press that he was moved by the plight of the farmers and refugees and had decided to contest the polls.
Daruwala made a show of trying to help the police in their investigations. But soon, the suspicions of the police narrowed down to a suspect- Daruwala himself!
The #MumbaiPolice soon unearthed some shocking facts about Daruwala. He was not staying at Andheri as was claimed, but went there to play with his infant daughter and take her for a walk. Daruwala was estranged from his wife.
He stayed in a dharmashala near a Parsi fire temple at Charni Road. This was very close to the school where the murder weapon was found.
Daruwala's mother-in-law gave the police some shocking details. Before marrying her daughter Marie Dawson, he had claimed to be wealthy with a salary of Rs 1,000 a month, which was a substantial sum in those days. This was proved to be false later.
The Dawsons stayed in a small bungalow at Perry Cross Road in Bandra West. After his marriage with Marie in 1969, Daruwala moved in with his in-laws. His father-in-law Henry had an import-export business.
In January 1970, Daruwala woke up screaming in the middle of the night in his room and claimed to have seen a ghost! He decided to sleep in the same room as Henry.
On 27 January 1970, Henry was found to have died in his sleep. Daruwala, who was sleeping near him claimed that Henry had suffered from chest pain at night, and he had massaged his chest to give him some relief.
However, he had not roused other members of the family as Henry had asked him not to do it.
The Doctor listened to Daruwala and certified Henry's cause of death as an heart-attack. However, the truth was something else. Daruwala had killed his father-in-law by suffocating him with a pillow.
Daruwala later claimed that Henry wanted to be cremated and not buried. This, Daruwala claimed, would ensure salvation for his soul. Perhaps it was meant to do away with any trace of a foul-play. Henry was cremated at Chandanwadi near Charni Road.
Later, Daruwala sold off the Bandra bungalow but lost the money in gambling.
Marie told the police about a shocking conspiracy that Daruwala had hatched with some of his friends. They planned to abduct matka king Ratan Khatri!
Marie told the police about a shocking conspiracy that Daruwala had hatched with some of his friends. They planned to abduct matka king Ratan Khatri!
The idea was to kidnap Khatri and threaten him to declare a particular number on which Daruwala and his friends had laid their bets on as the winner in the day's matka. This way, they hoped to make a fortune!
The plan came to light when Marie found two chloroform bottles, ropes and hand-gloves in her husband's cupboard and confronted him over it. Daruwala had also met Khatri to invite him for the inauguration of his 'factory.'
A money-lender named Jamnadas Shah also approached the #MumbaiPolice. Shah had loaned some money to Daruwala. On the pretext of returning the amount, Daruwala had taken Shah to a secluded spot on Nepean Sea road and hit him on the head with a heavy object.
The blunt trauma to the brain had led to Shah losing his memory for a few years!
The sleuths of the #MumbaiPolice now swung into action. PSI Minoo Irani interrogated Daruwala under the supervision of Vinayak Vakatkar of the Crime Branch, CID. Confronted with water-tight evidence, stern interrogators, and a strong case, Daruwala cracked.
On 2 March 1971, Daruwala finally confessed. He knew that Sethna was well-to-do and kept his money with Gaibai. He went to Jehangir Mansion with a gupti that had been hidden inside a rolled-up newspaper. Gaibai and Nusserwanji were at home.
Daruwala threatened Gaibai with the gupti to her neck. She offered to pay him Rs 60. An 'insulted' Daruwala stabbed Gaibai and Nusserwanji who tried to save her.
Just as Daruwala was rummaging through the cupboards, the servant Bawla opened the door using the keys. Daruwala stabbed him brutally. Writhing in pain, Bawla rolled under the cot and died there. Meanwhile, Darabshah Sethna and rang the bell.
Daruwala opened the door and stabbed him. Sethna slumped into the easy chair and passed away.
Daruwala later threw the gupti into the school's premises. He committed these murders for money. Daruwala was heavily in debt and had pawned his suit for Rs 100 that very morning!
Daruwala later threw the gupti into the school's premises. He committed these murders for money. Daruwala was heavily in debt and had pawned his suit for Rs 100 that very morning!
The sessions court and later, the High Court sentenced Daruwala to death. This was later confirmed by the Supreme Court. The President of India declined Daruwala's mercy plea that sought to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
Daruwala was hung at the Yerawada Jail in Pune. He went to the gallows with a photograph of his infant daughter in his hands. He was said to be a devout father!
Ironically, Daruwala had received 896 votes in his bid to enter the Lok Sabha. This was despite him declaring support for the Congress nominee later.
Perhaps to gain sympathy, Daruwala had also willed his kidney to the social reformer Hamid Dalwai. Dalwai was the founder of the Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal and sought to reform Islam. He was a crusader against obsurantism and regressive practices like oral, one-sided talaq.
Before his execution, Daruwala sent a card to DCP Ramakant Kulkarni, who led the team investigating the crime as the DCP of the Crime Branch, greeting him for Diwali!
Ramakant Kulkarni, who also investigated sensational cases like the murder of CPI MLA Krishna Desai, the serial killer Raman Raghav, was referred to as India's Sherlock Holmes by the media for his detective skills. He rose to be the DGP of Maharashtra and had stints in the CBI
Basil Kane, who was part of the investigating team, retired as the DCP of the Crime Branch, while Minoo Irani and Vinayak Vakatkar superannuated as Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP).
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