11 February,2017 05:04 PM IST | | Vijay Kumar Yadav
Mumbai Crime Branch has uncovered the mystery behind a body that was found in the creek near Safale in July 2016; clue came from an informer, who happened to hear a drunkard argue loudly about the murder
Picture for representation
The Mumbai Crime Branch has uncovered the mystery behind a body that was found in the creek near Safale in July last year. Interestingly, their clue came from an informer, who happened to hear a drunkard argue loudly about the murder. The police have recently detained five people who allegedly murdered the man and dumped the body.
Police discovered that the deceased was a Jogeshwari resident, who used to run ponzi schemes, and was murdered by the five people as their money was invested with him.
Clue: drunkard's argument
A police source told mid-day that it was a loud argument about the murder between the accused, a drunkard and his friends, that led them to detect the case, as a police informer overheard it.
The deceased has been identified as one Sachin Mohite (35). Officials detained the five people one after another, and during sustained interrogation they admitted to having killed Mohite.
They told interrogators that Mohite used to run ponzi schemes along with a Chandigarh-based couple. They would take huge sums from people on the pretext of returning double the amount.
One of the suspects, Satya Panigrahi alias Kumar from Odisha, had invested Rs 39 lakh with the trio. Satya, sources claim, looks like an MLA from Odisha, and he had even prepared an ID card in the MLA's name. Police say Satya is an influential man in Odisha, hence he had taken money from four people to invest for lucrative returns, and then invested '39lakh with the trio. But they went into hiding after taking his money.
Beaten to death
After the four people forced Satya to get their money back, he told them that he had invested it with the trio who were nowhere to be traced. But Satya then managed to find the Chandigarh couple, who told him that the money was with Mohite. After some days Satya traced Mohite to Mira Road and along with the four others beat him to death. They then flung his body in the creek near Manor. The body was found in the jurisdiction of Safale police station, where an Accidental Death report was filed in July 2016.
Sources say that Satya has a car with a red beacon. Investigators are verifying if he has user the vehicle to dodge police when he committed the offence.
After the deceased was identified, police asked his sister why she had not filed a missing person complaint. She told cops that in the past as well, Mohite had stayed away for months for work, and returned. So this time also, she thought he was away for work.
Crime Branch officials have handed over the five suspects to Safale police station, which will convert the ADR into a murder charge to prosecute the five further.
