Cops arrest woman and her boyfriend for running over her other lover, who, she claimed, had been harassing her
Thane resident Ramji Sharma succumbed to his injuries on Dec 27
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This story has more masala than a Bollywood potboiler. The Kasarvadavli police in Thane have arrested a 40-year-old woman and her 32-year-old boyfriend for killing her 46-year-old lover in an accident. And the woman apparently got into a relationship with the younger man only to kill two birds with one stone - to stop him from blabbing about her affair to her husband and to escape from her lover's clutches who had allegedly been harassing her.
The accused couple in police custody
Mishap to murder
According to the police, the victim, Ramji Sharma, who owns a salon, was hit by a car on November 18 in front of Tulsi restaurant in Brahmand, Thane West. The incident happened at 5.20 am when Sharma was out for a morning walk. He was admitted at Titan hospital and a case of accident and rash driving was registered at Kasarvadavli police station.
"Assuming it to be a case of careless driving, we started taking down statements of the victim's family members. During that time, his son blurted out in anger that had his father "not gone behind that woman", this wouldn't have happened. We smelt a rat and widened our investigation," said an officer.
Officers started scanning footage from the CCTVs at the incident spot. "We saw a car speeding towards him and knocking him to the ground, even though he was walking on the side. Then, we checked the footage prior to the accident; it showed the car waiting in that lane with its headlights on way before Sharma came out, as if waiting for the target," said Nasir Kulkarni, inspector (crime).
A detailed plan
Confirmed that it was a planned act, the police checked Sharma's call detail records and found that he was in constant touch with one Sumari Suresh Yadav, 40, who stays in the same locality. "We then gathered details about the car - it had a tourist permit and was driven by Jayprakash Chavan, 32, who stays with his wife and two kids near Yadav's home," added Kulkarni.
On December 25, the police registered an attempt-to-murder case and arrested Yadav and Chavan. However, after Sharma succumbed to his injuries on December 27, the charge of murder was slapped on them. Kulkarni said, "During interrogation, the woman revealed that she was in a relationship with Sharma, but lately, he had started harassing her. Frustrated, she decided to get him killed. We are investigating if there's some other reason behind the murder, as we suspect the accused are hiding something."
"Chavan used to gossip with Yadav's husband about her affair. While the husband ignored him, Yadav, in a bid to shut him up, got close to Chavan, and soon, the two were in a relationship. She told him that Sharma had been harassing and following her, and convinced him to help her in his murder. After that, they hatched the plan," said another officer.
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