The Mysterious Case of Urvashi Vaishnav: A Shocking Tale from Navi Mumbai

In Navi Mumbai’s peaceful Kopar Khairane area, Sector 19, 27-year-old Urvashi Vaishnav lived a quiet life with her younger brother Paras and cousin Jitendra. Originally from Dayanand Colony in Bundi, Rajasthan, she had moved to the city nearly seven years ago, chasing stability and a better life. Urvashi worked as a waitress at the Sona Restaurant and Bar in Mumbai. Her job paid reasonably well, and she even owned her own Baleno car. Life, it seemed, was finally looking up.

But on the morning of December 13, everything changed.

As usual, Urvashi got ready for work. That day, her friend Riyaz Khan accompanied her. Riyaz was driving her car and dropped her off at the restaurant. After that, he left with the car. In the evening, he returned to her home and told her brother Paras that he had a severe headache. Paras, being kind, made him coffee. Riyaz drank it and quietly left.

But something wasn’t right.

Every day around 5 PM, Urvashi would call her brother to let him know that her shift had ended. Paras would then pick her up—or occasionally, Riyaz would. But on this day, her call never came. Hours passed. Dusk turned to night, but Urvashi didn’t return.

Worried, Paras tried calling her multiple times, but there was no response. Panic started to set in. He reached out to his brother-in-law, who also lived in Mumbai. The family tried to contact Riyaz again. He acted concerned and joined them in searching for her. But there were no leads.

Meanwhile, about 40 kilometers away in Panvel, something strange was unfolding.

On the morning of December 14, some locals crossing the bridge over the Gadhi River noticed a body floating near one of the bridge’s pillars. Horrified, they immediately alerted the Panvel police. Within minutes, a police team arrived and retrieved the body.

It was a young woman, approximately 25 to 30 years old.

Her face was still intact, yet none of the local residents could identify her. She clearly wasn’t from the area. No ID, no purse, no jewelry—nothing was found on her except one sandal still clinging to her foot. Initially, it seemed she may have drowned. But on closer examination, the police noticed bruises on her neck, suggesting she had been strangled.

The body was sent for postmortem. But without an identity, the case hit a dead end—until the one sandal led investigators down a new path.

The crime branch took over. They examined the sandal closely and discovered the manufacturer's name printed on it. It turned out to be a local brand. Investigators contacted the manufacturer and traced recent bulk deliveries of that exact sandal model. Only three stores had received that specific design in early December—one in Mumbai, one in Vasai, and one in Panvel.

Police teams were dispatched to all three stores with a photo of the deceased girl and her sandal. The Mumbai and Vasai stores yielded nothing. But in Panvel, a store employee recognized her immediately. He recalled selling that very sandal to her a few days ago.

That was the breakthrough they needed.

The shopkeeper provided CCTV footage from December 6, and there she was—Urvashi Vaishnav—walking into the store with a tall, muscular man. The footage clearly showed her trying on the sandal. The man with her looked like a bodybuilder.

Now police had a name and a face.

They cross-checked the store's billing records and confirmed the purchase was under the name Urvashi Vaishnav. But who was the man with her?

The investigation shifted focus to local gyms, since the man in the footage had a bodybuilder's build. Police collected CCTV footage from dozens of gyms, hoping to find a match. Days passed, but the man remained unidentified.

Then, on December 17, three days after the body was discovered, a missing person report was finally filed. It came from Paras Vaishnav—and it was for Urvashi.

Police immediately contacted him and asked him to come to the station. When he saw the body, he broke down in tears. “Didi… Didi…” he kept crying. There was no doubt left. The body was Urvashi’s.

Her cousin Jitendra and brother-in-law also arrived at the police station, and the officers showed them the CCTV footage from the sandal shop. They instantly recognized the man with Urvashi—it was Riyaz Khan, her close friend.

Paras then revealed something chilling. On December 13, when Urvashi didn’t return home, he had called Riyaz to ask if he knew where she was. Riyaz had claimed he didn’t.

The suspicion grew stronger.

Police began searching for Riyaz. They discovered he worked as a gym trainer nearby. When they went to the gym, Riyaz was missing. They then visited his house—but he wasn’t there either. His wife and daughter were home. His wife told police that Riyaz hadn’t returned home for days and his phone was switched off.

The mystery deepened.

Why would Riyaz disappear if he was innocent?

The crime branch now saw Riyaz as the prime suspect. They set up surveillance near his gym and waited. Finally, one day as Riyaz quietly stepped out after a workout, the police nabbed him.

Now in custody, they dug into his call records.

Between December 13 and 15, Riyaz had made the most calls to one particular number—that of his friend Imran Sheikh. Police immediately raided Imran’s house and found him there. He, too, was taken into custody.

The full truth was yet to unfold, but one thing was clear: Urvashi’s death was no accident.

It was a cold, calculated murder.

This case, which started with a missing woman and a floating body, was now heading toward uncovering a dark and disturbing plot—one that involved betrayal, deception, and a trusted friend turning into a deadly foe.

Stay tuned as we cover the next chapter in this unfolding investigation—where justice, hopefully, will be served.