Kirti Vyas murder: Family of accused, Siddhesh Tamhankar, say he is innocent

Kirti Vyas (second from right) and the two accused Siddhesh Tamhankar and Khushi Sahjwani (second and third from left) with other colleagues

"My brother is innocent." These were the first words out of Siddhesh Tamhankar's elder sister Suchitra when mid-day visited their home yesterday. "Ever since she [Kirti Vyas] went missing, he has been with her family as well as cooperating with the investigators - first, the DB Marg police, and then, the crime branch. He's showed up every time he's been called in for questioning."

Suchitra said, "The whole family would be stressed and tensed whenever he had to do this, but he would always tell us to relax and say 'I haven't done anything wrong; no one will touch me'."

She alleged her brother had been framed in the case. "He wasn't scared of being fired. In fact, he had told us five months back that he was planning to change jobs. Also, he wanted to start his own business," she said.

Khushi Sahjwani's Santacruz flat has been locked since her arrest

Siddhesh's father, Shantaram Tamhankar, said, "The police say the motive behind the murder is that Kirti Vyas had issued him a notice for not working up to the mark, but he'd made no mention of it to us and seemed his usual self and happy." "We are a middle-class family, and his arrest has broken us. He ran from pillar to post to find Kirti..." said Suchitra.

Siddhesh, after completing his BCom, started working for a chartered accountant. BBlunt was his second job. He has two brothers and a sister, who is married. While one brother works with a bank, the other doesn't stay with the family. The family said Siddhesh was their breadwinner, and they had been planning to look for a match for him.

Locked!
The other accused, Khushi Sahjwani, lived with her husband and teenaged son in a Santacruz West high-rise. A resident told mid-day that the family is nowhere to be seen since Saturday, adding that her husband worked in the hotel industry, while her son had just passed SSC. Another said, "Khushi's family was on cordial terms with everyone in the building."

"It was sad to find out Khushi had admitted to the crime. All of us are in shock," said a woman staying in the Santacruz building.

Also read: Kirti Vyas murder: Body at the mercy of foxes and tide, say cops

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