Navi Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai Crime Branch Unit II on Thursday arrested three people for allegedly killing a person over a business rivalry in Uran. The accused, Gopal Ramsingh Rajput (28), Suraj Rajan Hinduraj Nair (21) and Rajsingh Agnidevsingh Chauhan (22), are all residents of Ulwe.
On May 31, an unidentified body was found in the forest area of Chirner in Uran, with the head bludgeoned with a stone. The Uran police suspected the victim to be from the transport business, and circulated his pictures among relevant WhatsApp groups. “The Uran police identified the deceased as Arshad Saifi (30), who worked as a supplier for a building material supplier company,” Senior Police Inspector Nivrutti Kolhatkar from Crime Branch Unit II said.
Saifi hailed from Allahabad, and had no relatives here. Hence, there was no missing person complaint filed about him.
After the body was identified, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch. “We found out that the deceased was addicted to alcohol and used to visit bars quite often,” Mr. Kolhatkar said. Police officials checked every bar in Ulwe for information about people Saifi was often seen with, and traced Rajput. “After Rajput was nabbed, the other two accused were arrested,” Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Nitin Kausdikar said.
Rajput and Saifi used to work in the same company in the past. A year ago, Rajput started his own business. According to the police, Saifi was jealous of the business. “Rajput heard from someone that Saifi was planning to kill him, and decided to kill Saifi first. He asked two friends for help,” Assistant Police Inspector Subhash Pujari from Crime Branch Unit II said.
Nair worked as a helper for Rajput, while Chauhan had earlier worked with Rajput. The trio took Saifi to a bar in Ulwe and got him drunk. They took him to Chirner in an SUV and strangled him with the wire of a power bank. They disfigured his face using a stone.
The accused were presented in court on Friday and have been remanded in police custody till June 30.
Saifi was arrested by the Kalamboli police in 2007 in a case of rape. He got bail in 2010 and shifted to Ulwe.
