Mumbai: Investigations into the murder of Thakurli-based interior designer Kishore Chaudhari have indicated that the accused had carefully planned the attack, the police said on Wednesday.
Chaudhari was shot dead in a flat in the Devi Shivamrut building in Sambhaji Nagar, Thakurli, by a group of 10 to 12 men, who allegedly pumped eight rounds into him using handguns on Tuesday morning. His business partner, Nitin Joshi, was also hit by a bullet and is currently under treatment.
Chaudhari and Joshi had received the contract for interior designing at the Devi Shivamrut building. Investigations have indicated the involvement of a local interior designer who was furious at Chaudhari for taking contracts in his area.
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“Investigations so far have indicated that the accused had planned the murder carefully, arranging for a large number of accomplices, vehicles and weapons beforehand. They had even told their family members to leave the city before the murder was committed,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandip Bhajibhakare, Economic Offences Wing and Cyber Cell, who currently holds additional charge of Zone III, Thane police.
Mr. Bhajibhakare said the police were pursuing some concrete leads about the whereabouts of the accused and that four to five teams were on their trail.
Investigating officers suspect that the larger motive behind the murder was to make an example out of Chaudhari and Joshi, and discourage other contractors from accepting work in their area.
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“The contract that Chaudhari and Joshi had was for ₹5 lakh, and they stood to make a profit of ₹1.5 lakh at the most. More than the money, the motive seems to have been to send out a message. The accused had earlier tried to threaten the residents of the building against giving contracts to anyone else, but the residents called the police station, which seems to have angered the accused,” said an officer who is part of the investigation.