Mumbai: Missing Virar man found dead in a box

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A 32-year-old man, whose missing complaint was registered at Virar police station on August 27, was found murdered on Friday night. The deceased has been identified as Ricky Waghela.

"It was a fully decomposed body, and his hands and legs were tied with a nylon rope. The body was stuffed inside a wooden box which the killer transported in an autorickshaw before dumping it in a drain, which is hardly a few kilometers away," said Raju Mane, senior inspector of Arnala police station. An FIR was registered under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (disappearance of evidence) against Jayesh Panchal who runs a stationery shop in Virar west.

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"Panchal and Waghela were friends and had some dispute over money. We are investigating the matter," Mane told mid-day. Sources in the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police said that Waghela had gone to ask for his money at Panchal's shop. "A heated argument snowballed into fisticuffs. Later, Panchal brutally assaulted him leading to his death," said the officer.

When Waghela did not return home, his wife approached Virar police station. "We first detained Panchal, who later spilled the beans and we recovered the body." Waghela is survived by his wife and two children.