BBlunt staffer murder: Accused say they killed Kirti 'in the heat of the moment'

Kirti Vyas

What began as a confrontation between colleagues, ended in murder for salon executive Kirti Vyas. This has emerged after the crime branch arrested her co-workers Siddhesh Tamhankar and Khushi Sahjwani on May 5 for her murder.

During investigation, the two accused told cops, "We were not planning on killing Kirti. It happened in the heat of the moment." The tiff that led to the murder began after Tamhankar was issued a notice for his poor performance at work.

Confrontation to strangulation
Sources from the crime branch said, "Tamhankar was very close to Sahjwani, so he did not want to lose this job. However, his performance was not up to the mark and Vyas had put him on notice for that. Due to it, some heated arguments occurred between the three. On March 16, the day when Tamhankar's future in the organisation was to be decided, he and Sahjwani came to pick up Vyas at her home to convince her not to fire Tamhankar and promise that he will improve his performance."

However, both of them got a negative response from Vyas. Suddenly, Tamhankar took a piece of cloth and strangulated Vyas. When she stopped moving after a few minutes, the duo were in shock and realised what they'd done. After this, they began planning how to dump her dead body. They eventually threw it in a nullah near IMAX cinema in Wadala. Cops suspect the body may have flown into the sea. They are now planning to take the help of divers to find her body.

Also read: BBlunt staffer Kirti Vyas' murder similar to Sheena Bora case: Mumbai crime branch

Commissioner irked
Meanwhile, the failure of the DB Marg police in cracking Vyas's case has attracted the ire of the Commissioner of Police DD Padsalgikar. Despite having plenty of time in hand, they couldn't nail culprits. Whereas the crime branch not only nabbed the culprits, but also got solid evidence. DB Marg cops had begun their investigations immediately after Vyas's parents lodged a missing person's complaint on March 16, there were several lacunae in their probe.

"They believed the story made up by Tamhankar and Sahjwani. The biggest loophole in the investigation was the car in which Kirti had travelled with the suspects. The vehicle should have been inspected with the help of experts. When cops got to know that both the suspects had spent time at the Wadala IMAX, they only visited the place and assumed no dead body must have dumped," said a senior police officer.

Departmental inquiry likely
According to sources, Padsalgikar is angry about the shoddy work of the DB Marg police. A departmental inquiry is likely to be initiated against the officers investigating and supervising the case.

Padsalgikar told mid-day," When the family met me in the first week of April, they raised doubts on Tamhankar and Sahjwani. I was convinced and immediately called additional commissioner of police (crime) KMM Prasanna and asked him to look into the matter. I also asked the team to send the car to the forensic which was used to pick her from her house."

"Indeed, this was a tough case, but had they followed regular procedure and applied their mind, they could have easily nabbed the accused" said another police officer, adding, "The investigation of the case is still on and once we recover the dead body and the probe is over, a course of action against the officers will be decided."

Also read: BBlunt staffer missing: Cops nail accused after Kirti's bloodstains are found in car

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