Navi Mumbai: A murder accused, who surrendered on Wednesday hoping that he would get away with the punishment by turning an approver, helped the police crack the case of a partially-burnt body being found near Karnala forest in Panvel on Tuesday night.
The surrender of Sandeep Mishra (23) led to the arrest of the main accused, Pundalik Gosavi Mhatre (45), who is the elder brother of victim Ram Gosavi Mhatre (43). Since Mr. Mishra was involved in the murder, he was arrested, but not made a witness or an approver.
The Mhatre brothers are residents of Jite village at Pen in Raigad district. While the victim handled farming in the village, his brother worked as a security guard at Rasayani and Mr. Mishra was his colleague.
According to the police, a property dispute between the brothers led to the murder. A local resident saw the body in the forest area on the Mumbai-Goa highway opposite Panaroma resort.
After news of the body being found spread, Mr. Mishra, who had fled to Virar, surrendered before the Virar police. “When we found the body, it was beyond recognition. But, one of accused was afraid that he will be arrested and with the hope of becoming an approver and getting away with the punishment, surrendered,” said senior inspector Maloji Shinde from Panvel Taluka police station.
On Saturday, Mr. Mishra went to the victim’s house and asked to accompany him for drinking liquor. He then took him to Karnala forest where his elder brother was waiting. The duo killed the victim by bashing his head with a stone and then tried to burn the body to hide his identity.
“The victim’s wife had seen Mr. Mishra going to their house and asking the victim to accompany him. We have found the stone in the area and it has the victim’s hair on it,” said Mr. Shinde. “The brothers frequently had fights over property and had registered complaints against each other at Dadar-Pen coastal police station. We are interrogating the accused.”
The accused will be produced before court on Thursday.
