Tailor tag helps cops identify the victim

A tailor tag, a signature and social media helped the crime branch crack the mystery of how 59-year-old guitarist Bennett Rebello ended up in a travel bag that floated ashore near Mahim Dargah.

Investigations revealed Rebello was a guitarist and organised musical shows in the city. He was twice divorced and had informally adopted a 17-year-old girl in 2017. “The only evidence we found was a letter addressed ‘To whomsoever it may concern’, written by the woman, claiming she was Rebello’s daughter,” said Shahji Umap, deputy commissioner of police, crime branch. When the 19-year-old was brought to the crime branch after being arrested for Rebello’s murder on Saturday, she was wearing a T-shirt that read ‘Papa Ki Pari’ (daddy’s angel).

Rebello allegedly disapproved of the 19-year-old’s relationship with a 16-year-old boy. A crime branch officer said the 19-year-old had accused Rebello of sexual abuse. “The couple was waiting for an opportunity to kill Bennett as the woman had claimed she was sexually assaulted. The fact that Bennett’s private parts were chopped off reveals the anger the duo had against him,” said the officer.

On the evening of November 26, Rebello was killed in his Vakola home by the couple. They needed three days to carve his body into pieces and dispose of it by stuffing the chopped-up body into two suitcases and one plastic bag, which they threw into Mithi river. “The couple decided to stuff the suitcase with clothes to prevent blood oozing out,” said the officer. The police have located only one suitcase so far.

In it, the police found an arm, a leg, two shirts, a pair of pants and a sweater that had a tag that read ‘Almo’s Menswear’.

The tag led them to a shop in Kurla where the police learned Rebello’s first name from the tailor’s bill book. The bill book also had Rebello’s signature. Using the sweater and the name Bennett as clues, the police scanned social media. “Bennett was wearing a sweater in one of his profile pictures. The colour matched the sweater we’d found in the suitcase. We also found his signature in one of his posts, which matched the sign in the tailor’s bill book and confirmed his identity,” said the officer. From the social media profile, the police located Rebello’s address and found the 19-year-old there, who eventually confessed to the crime.