Bangladeshi national arrested in connection of NRI father and daughter murder case

Orange County, Los Angeles, May 29, 2007
Naresh Sharma

Bangladeshi national Iftekhar Murtaza, 22, of Van Nuys was arrested at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona in connection with the Dhanak murders in Anaheim, near Los Angeles. According to the Anaheim Police, Iftekhar Murtaza a person of interest. Reports say the man, Iftekar Murtaza, was arrested on a fugitive warrant. Looks like he was preparing to flee the country with a one-way ticket to Bangladesh.

• On May 21, 2007, NRI Jayprakash Dhanak, 56, and his daughter Karishma Dhanak, 20, were killed and their home was set on fire. Their charred bodies were found on a trail in a nearby park. The victims were stabbed, strangled and burned, according to the documents.
• Jayprakash Dhanak's wife, Leela, Dhana, 53, ' had been beaten and left for dead on a neighbor's lawn. She remains hospitalized.

Bangladeshi national Iftekhar Murtaza, 22, of Van Nuys was arrested at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona in connection with the Dhanak murders. He was reportedly the ex-boyfriend of the surviving Shayona Dhanak

• Iftekhar Murtaza was a ex-boyfriend of Shayona Dhanak, 18, younger sister of Karishma and daughter of Jayprakash, who did not live home and was not there on the day of the murder. She is under police protection.
• He was reportedly the ex-boyfriend of the surviving daughter and noted problems between him and her family.
• The Dhanaks family were Hindu and Murtaza was Muslim, according to the newspaper. The victims were stabbed, strangled and burned, according to the documents.

The suspect was upset with Shayona's parents and sister for discontinuing the relationship due to different religious backgrounds, Hindu and Muslim," the court papers said. The court documents mention religion may have played a role in the crime.

After his arrest, Iftekhar Murtaza told authorities that he was not in Anaheim the day or evening of the killings but telephone records indicated that his cell phone was used less than two miles from the crime scene and about 90 minutes before the killings, court documents said.

The police noted that 'based on the brutality of the crime, we believe there was more than one suspect involved.'

NRI Jayprakash Dhanak described as soft spoken but who also had a history of legal problems

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