30 March,2017 08:24 PM IST | | Faisal Tandel
Prashant Mhatre, prime accused in the murder case of Bhiwandi corporator Manoj Mhatre, was arrested by the Anti-extortion Cell of Thane Crime Branch, along with four others, on Wednesday
Prashant Mhatre
Prashant Mhatre, the prime accused in the murder case of Manoj Mhatre, the Congress corporator from Bhiwandi, was arrested by the Anti-extortion Cell of Thane Crime Branch, along with four others, on Wednesday. The accused were produced in court and have been remanded to police custody till April 5.
On the night of February 14, Manoj Mhatre was brutally killed at his building compound. Bullets were fired at him, and he was also assaulted with a sharp weapon. A murder case was registered at Narpoli police station in Bhiwandi. Considering the gravity of the case, the investigation was further handed over to the Anti-extortion Cell of Thane crime branch.
Apart from Prashant, the other arrested accused have been identified as Charanjiv Mhatre (22), Rajnikant Mhatre (33), Shashikant Mhatre (30) and Kunal Mhatre (25).
Manoj Mhatre
NT Kadam, Senior Police Inspector, Anti-Extortion Cell, Thane informed that with the arrested of Prashant, the prime accused in the case, the number of arrested accused has reached to 13. "We arrested Prashant and Charanjiv from Panchgani while three others were arrested from Bhiwandi. All of them were produced in court and remanded to police custody till April 5. We have already booked 20 people under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act as it was a planned and organised crime. Involvement of more accused is suspected," he said.
CCTV footage of the assault
The police also found that he was making extortion calls from new numbers to local traders and builders as he was out of cash. "We were in touch with locals and were getting information that Prashant gave calls to particular people. Tracing the calls, we used to get the information about their location. We sent a team to Ahmedabad and Rajasthan, but with no lead, had to return back as he fled away. This time, however, we were successful and caught hold of them," said Rajkumar Kothmire, Police Inspector, Anti-Extortion Cell, Thane.
The investigation in the case has now been handed over to Bharat Shelke, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thane Crime Branch. "All the five accused are cousins and close relatives. Investigations have revealed that a supari of Rs 50 lakh was given for the murder. Also, the main reason behind the crime was election. Prashant's father was a former corporator, who brought up Manoj. Manoj was a corporator for 10 years, and Prashant was demanding the seat. But, Manoj refused and again won. This enraged Prashant even further," added Kadam.
