Killers had given Mansukh Hiran a code name - parcel

The car in which Hiran was murdered. File pic/Suresh Karkera

The 10,000-page charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) contains the chilling testimony of Mansukh Hiran's murderers. Hired by former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma, the four men smothered the businessmen and held him tightly as he struggled for almost 15-20 minutes. After he died, they dumped his body in the Thane creek and had dinner at a dhaba.

The killers also used code words for Hiran - parcel. In the disclosure memo, one of the main accused and close aide of Sharma, Santosh Shelar, voluntarily informed the NIA about the route for recce and how they abducted Hiran and killed him inside the Tavera, and then dumped his body in the creek.

Shelar told everyone about the parcel which will be brought near Ghodbunder. "Around 7.30 pm on March 4, on the Western Express Highway at Kandivli, Anand Jadhav, Satish Mothukeri alias Tanni and I got into a red Tavera brought by Manish Soni. I sat next to Soni, who was driving, while Satish and Jadhav took the back seat. We then left for Ghodbunder," Shelar told the NIA. "While heading towards Ghodbunder via Thane, around 8 pm, I gave 5-6 handkerchieves and a hoodie cap [beanie cap] to Satish to parcel one person," he added.

Shelar along with other killers arrived near Fountain Hotel on Ghodbunder road and waited for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Mothukeri got down and went to the back seat and Shelar sat in the middle row along with Jadhav. Soni remained in the driver's seat. "Thereafter, a white car stopped by, one person got out and came towards the Tavera in which we were waiting for him as a parcel," he said. As Hiran came, Shelar got down and made him sit next to Jadhav, and then he sat down himself. "As soon as the parcel sat in the Tavera, the white car left from the location," Shelar said.

Mansukh Hiran

"After a few seconds, Shelar gave a signal to me as already decided, I covered the mouth and nose of the said person (Hiran) strongly with a handkerchief, Santosh Shelar and Anand Jadhav strongly held the left and right hand of said person, respectively. The said person tried to escape but we were holding [him] for at least 15 minutes and later he went unconscious or died," Mothukeri said in his disclosure memo to the NIA in the presence of a panch.

"...I saw Mothukeri covering the mouth and nose of the said person with a handkerchief, Shelar and Jadhav were holding his hands, he struggled to escape but he died after 15-20 minutes," Soni, who was in the driver's seat, told the NIA. He told the agency that he found the deceased's name from the news a day later.

According to Mothukeri, Soni then drove the car towards Kasheli Bridge. "Around 22.30 pm, we reached Kasheli Bridge and we got out of the red Tavera, and watched both ends, when we ensured nobody could see us, then I along with Santosh Shelar and Anand Jadhav brought out the said person in an unconscious state from the Tavera and threw him in Thane creek from the top of the Kasheli Bridge," Mothukeri told the NIA.

After brutally murdering Hiran, the killers stopped at Kathiyawadi Dhaba on Thane-Bhiwandi highway for dinner. Jadhav told the NIA that Shelar paid for the dinner and then they all left the dhaba.