Thane, Apr 19 (PTI) The Thane police have arrested a 33-year-old maulana for allegedly murdering a 16-year-old boy in 2020, taking the number of persons held in the case so far to two, an official said on Saturday.

Shoheb Rashid Sheikh had gone missing on November 20, 2020 from Navi Vasti area in Nehru Nagar, after which Bhiwandi Town police registered a case of kidnapping, the official said.

A subsequent probe led to section 377 (unnatural offences) of Indian Penal Code and provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act being added in 2023.

“Nazir, who was on the run, was held from Kalyan today. He was a maulana in the mosque frequented by Sheikh,” Crime Branch property cell senior inspector Gorakhnath Garge said.

A few days ago, maulana Gulab alias Ghulam Rabbani Sheikh was held from Roorkee in Uttarakhand, where he was working in a mosque under a fake identity, the official said.

“Rabbani was absconding since 2023. He confessed to killing Sheikh, dismembering his body and burying the parts in a storage space near his grocery shop. The area was excavated and the skeletal remains of the victim were unearthed,” he said.

As per police, Rabbani killed Sheikh after the latter saw him committing a sexual crime.

The victim’s mother said the accused must be given the strictest punishment.

The two accused were produced in court on Saturday and were remanded in police custody for 14 days. PTI COR BNM