Man Chopped Off Friend's Head With Cleaver, Kept Severed Head, Torso In Separate Bags, Dumped Remains In Lake

A man has been accused of horrifically chopping off his friend's head with a slaughtering chopper, or meat cleaver, putting the victim's head and torso in separate plastic bags, and dumping the remains in a lake in Ahmedabad, India on Sept. 16.

Mazhar Qureshi, of the Danilimda area, reportedly murdered his long-time friend Shahrukh Syed before proceeding to behead his pal using a sharp cleaver, allegedly over a petty dispute. He has been accused of keeping the victim's head and the body in separate plastic bags and dumping the mangled remains in Sodhan Lake near New Faysalnagar locality in Danilimda. The gruesome murder reportedly happened on Sept. 16, the Times of India reported.

Syed reportedly used to hang out near Qureshi's house with a girl with whom he was in a relationship with and frequently indulged in obscene public acts with her. Qureshi's sister subsequently complained to her brother regarding the indecency and expressed her displeasure over Syed’s obscene behavior.

Spurred by his sister's vexation, Qureshi spoke to his friend Syed regarding the issue. However, the conversation resulted in a heated argument between the two friends. Enraged, Qureshi decided to eliminate Syed entirely and plotted to murder his friend.

On Sept. 16, the night of the murder, Qureshi reportedly brought Syed to his house and offered him liquor. After Syed fell asleep, Qureshi proceeded to decapitate him using a slaughtering chopper. He reportedly kept Syed's severed head in a plastic bag and the victim's other body parts in another bag and later threw the remains in the Sodhan Lake, Times Now reported.

The incident came to light on Friday, Sept. 24, after the remains surfaced. A police investigation quickly proved Qureshi to be the culprit and he was arrested near the Narol locality on Saturday, Sept. 25.

In a similar but unrelated incident, a 52-year-old man named Shehzad who allegedly failed to pay back a loan amounting to 25,000 Indian rupees (US$335) was found slashed with a meat cleaver and heinously decapitated in an agricultural field in Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, India on July 16, Latin Times reported.

The officers have arrested Riyast Khan, 35, and Javed, 30, in connection with the murder.

Shehzad, whose work was displaced last year by the pandemic, had reportedly loaned money from Khan. However, when Khan asked for his money back earlier this year, Shehzad allegedly hurled abuses and threatened to hurt him and his family members.

Khan lured Shahjad to Baghpat in his Esteem car on the pretext of providing him a contract to paint a house and also eat mangoes on a farm. Javed and Nadeem, who joined them on the way, reportedly offered alcohol to Shahzad, got him drunk, took him to the field, and allegedly butchered him with a meat cleaver.

The trio then severed Shahzad’s head and threw it in a canal near Muradnagar while returning to Delhi.

A case of kidnapping, murder, and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code’s Sections 365, 302, and 201 was registered at the Seemapuri Police Station.