THANE: Police in Maharashtra’s Thane district have solved the murder of a Mumbai-based tailor within 48 hours of the crime, arresting two men allegedly involved in the killing. Investigators said a crucial clue emerged from the manner in which the victim was tied up before being murdered, according to news agency PTI.The victim, identified as 35-year-old Shamshad Ali Warish Ali, was a resident of Kajupada in Mumbai’s Kurla West. During the investigation, police found that Ali had allegedly been killed after repeatedly demanding repayment of a Rs 3 lakh loan he had extended to one of the accused.Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Thane District Superintendent of Police Vinaykumar Rathod said Ali’s wife had filed a missing person’s complaint at the Sakinaka police station on May 25.Two days later, on May 27, a highly decomposed body bearing multiple stab wounds was discovered in an isolated field near an open plot in Dahagaon under the Vasind police station limits in Thane district.Police subsequently registered a case under Sections 103(1) (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against unidentified persons.“There was no CCTV camera placed around the isolated crime scene, making it a completely blind case initially. However, a breakthrough was achieved when the victim’s wife identified a pair of slippers and clothes found near the decomposed body to be Ali’s,” Rathod said.Investigators then relied on technical analysis and intelligence gathering, which led them to suspect Syed Hassan Syed Mehbub Badshah (38), a resident of Mumbra in Thane who worked as a zari artisan, and his associate Sameer Abdul Karim Kalyankar (43), a resident of Mahim in Mumbai. Both men were taken into custody.“Their sustained interrogation brought to light that Ali had lent Rs 3 lakh to Badshah. As the accused failed to repay the loan, the victim continuously demanded his money back. Fed up with his constant pestering, Badshah hatched a plan with Kalyankar to eliminate Ali,” the official said.According to police, the two accused lured Ali to the secluded Dahagaon location, where they tied his hands, legs and eyes before stabbing him to death.“Considering the fact that the victim’s eyes, hands, and legs were tied tightly with cloth provided a vital clue to the police that the murder was the handiwork of someone deeply accustomed to fabric and garment work, which eventually turned out to be completely true,” Rathod noted.The investigation was carried out by the crime branch, which ultimately cracked the case and arrested the two accused.