Builder murder: Four held; abandoned bike leads cops to contract killers from Bihar | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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Builder murder: Four held; abandoned bike leads cops to contract killers from Bihar

By, Navi Mumbai
Mar 20, 2023 11:54 PM IST

The motorcycle used by the two assailants to flee after shooting a builder dead in Nerul has helped the police crack the murder case

The motorcycle used by the two assailants to flee after shooting a builder dead in Nerul has helped the police crack the murder case. However, the pistol is yet to be recovered.

Builder murder: Four held; abandoned bike leads cops to contract killers from Bihar
Builder murder: Four held; abandoned bike leads cops to contract killers from Bihar

While one person was arrested in Gujarat’s Kutch on March 18, three contract killers were arrested in Bihar the next day. A police team has got a transit remand and the trio are expected to reach Navi Mumbai on Tuesday.

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City police commissioner Milind Bharambe said, “We had solved the case within 48 hours of the crime. But there are still a few missing links which will be cleared after we have questioned the accused. More arrests are expected in the coming days.”

Around 5pm on March 15, Belapur-based Savjibhai Gokar Manjeri, 56, was gunned down in Nerul’s sector 6.

Three hours later, a police team found an abandoned bike on the service road to Nerul-Palm Beach Road. CCTV footage that had captured the assailants fleeing on a bike confirmed that it was the same vehicle used in the murder, Tanaji Bhagat, senior police inspector at Nerul police station, said.

“The duo tried to scratch off the engine and the chasis numbers. The number plate too was broken. But guesswork of the probable numbers did the trick,” assistant commissioner of police (Turbhe division) Gajanan Rathod said.

The police traced the original owner of the bike to Gujarat, but he said that he had sold it on OLX. The second owner too had a similar story. The police then zeroed in on the third owner, Mehek Jayrajbhai Nariya, 28, who was later arrested.

Nariya was a relative of Bachubhai Dhana Patani who was killed in 1998 in Kutch. The builder was imprisoned for around 11 months on murder charges but later he was acquitted, police officers said.

“Even though he was acquitted, it was believed that Manjeri did kill Patani. Since then, he used to frequently pick up fights with Patani’s relatives. Fed up, the relatives attempted twice to kill Manjeri in Kutch but failed since the builder was always surrounded by a group of aggressive men,” joint commissioner of police Sanjay Mohite said.

Finally, a 25 lakh contract was given to three men from Bihar - Kaushal Kumar Vijendra Yadav 18, his brother Sonu Kumar Vijendra Yadav, 23, and Gaurav Kumar Vikas Yadav, 24 - to kill Manjeri in Navi Mumbai.

“While Gaurav did a recce of the area, Sonu was riding the bike and Kaushal, who turned 18 on March 12, was the shooter,” assistant police inspector Sachin Dhage from Nerul police station said.

The three accused from Bihar came to Navi Mumbai on March 10. “They followed Manjeri to find out about the pattern of his travel and his whereabouts and finally executed the plan in Nerul where he had gone for lunch at a friend’s house. He was shot when he was about to enter his car after lunch,” Vivek Pansare, deputy commissioner of police, zone I, said.

Nariya was produced before a local court which remanded him in police custody till March 24.

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