Busy area but locals, neighbours not aware of his movements

The one-BHK flat was rented to Feroze for Rs 6,000 a month. The building is owned by Yusuf Shaikh, a local resident who is into construction business. It is located in a busy locality, and the movement of residents coming out of the area is easily noticeable as the narrow lane they emerge through is right at the chowk where scores of local youth are found loitering.

"I stay just a few feet from the Shaikh building. But I don't remember ever having seen him," said corporator Kiran Mote whose several relatives too stay in the locality. Mote said he has several Muslim friends, but none remembers having seen him.

"I spoke to my Muslim friends. They told me he never spoke to them or interacted with them. They even told me that he never came to the mosque," said Mote.

The buiding is three-storeyed and the Shaikhs stay on the ground floor. Four flats have been rented out. An immediate neighbour of Feroze's flat says,"I have been staying in the building for four years. In the last two-three months, I never saw Feroze. His door was always shut," he says.

Suraiya Shaikh, wife of owner Yusuf Shaikh said Feroze had taken the flat, but she was not aware whether two others (suspects) frequented the place.

"I had seen him twice or thrice carrying milk bags to his flat in the morning. He rarely came and discussed anything with us...I don't even remember his face," she said.

Chandrakala Thingle, who stays in the flat above said, "I must have seen him once, but can't recall his face...."

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