Weeks after man found dead, police arrest his wife, 2 stepsons for murder

Thane, Oct 29 (PTI) Over three weeks after an elderly man's body was found in Murbad taluka of Maharashtra's Thane district, the police have cracked the case and arrested his wife as well as his two stepsons for his murder.

The Thane rural police's crime branch solved the case, an official said on Wednesday.

The body of the man, approximately 60 years old, was found dumped in Divepada area of Murbad on October 6. The victim was found to have been strangled with a rope, he said.

A case was then registered at the Tokawade police station under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 103 (1) (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence).

Superintendent of Police Dr D S Swami and Additional Superintendent of Police Anmol Mittal of Thane rural ordered parallel investigations with multiple teams being formed to probe the case, he said.

The investigators faced challenges in establishing the identify the deceased even as they examined the CCTV footage, verified missing persons' reports across Maharashtra, and scrutinised suspicious vehicles.

"However, a breakthrough was achieved through technical analysis led by Police Sub-Inspector Mahesh Kadam and his team. The deceased was eventually identified as Rajesh Shantilal Thakkar, alias Raju Chacha, from Katemanivali in Kalyan," the official said.

The investigation then focused on Thakkar's family, leading to the detention of his 28-year-old stepson, Navid Latif Sayyed, a tempo driver, he said.

During his interrogation, Navid Sayyed admitted that he killed his stepfather with the help of his mother Asha Latif Sayyed (55), a homemaker, and his brother, Nazim (26), a car mechanic working at a garage. Asha was the second wife of the deceased, he added.

All three accused reside in Katemanivali area of Kalyan East. The motive behind the murder is yet to be ascertained, the police said.

The trio was subsequently placed under arrest and was being interrogated, they said. PTI COR NP