Black magic angle probed in Virar murder investigation

Pintoo Sharma

Police grilling suspected killer Pintoo Sharma in the gruesome murder of Ganesh Koladkar have ventured into the dark side, at least with their suspicions. They feel that Sharma could have killed Koladkar and LIC senior executive Arvind Ranade as part of a 'black magic' ritual, and disposed of the crucial pieces of evidence to give a tough time to cops.

A senior officer from Palghar police told mid-day, "Sharma is saying that he picked up a fight with Koladkar just because the latter could not repay him the remaining amount of his loan. This is just a tactic to deviate us.

We are yet to find out the exact cause of the murder, so we are probing the case keeping all the angles in mind, including black magic." Cops suspect that Sharma, who is currently lodged in Thane jail, might have sacrificed his alleged victims in an attempt to successfully complete a black magic ritual that would bring him more money. Cops supposedly have evidence to back this up, but they are keeping it under wraps as of now.

When Sharma was in custody of the Arnala police, a team from Valiv police station, probing the Ranade case, had also interrogated Sharma and asked him specific questions related to 'black magic'. However, Sharma had categorically denied his role in Ranade's kidnapping by telling cops, "The punishment for one murder or two is jail. Why would I lie? I don't know where Ranade is."

Valiv cops have been unsuccessful in locating Ranade's remains for almost a year now. They have checked all human skeletons found in and around Naigaon, from where Ranade went missing on February 21, 2018, but had no luck. The Arnala police have not yet recovered the skeletal remains of Koladkar, whose body was allegedly chopped into multiple pieces by Sharma and flushed down the toilet.

A senior police officer said that while chopping Koladkar's body, Sharma did not have anything to eat. Instead, he drank five litres of water all day. He had also supposedly wrapped a piece of cloth around the hacksaw blade for a better grip, and to stave off any injury while scraping the flesh from the bones.

Meanwhile, sources told mid-day that the previous investigating officer API Sudheer Dhayarkar has been transferred to Valiv police station and will get the charge to probe the case once again.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates