The Thane police have arrested a man who had allegedly kidnapped his wife’s lover last month, brutally murdered him and threw his body into the Thane creek.

Inspector Madan Balal, crime branch unit-1, said Hemant Thakkar, 31, an estate agent had been having affair with Sanjay Patil’s wife. Patil, 27, had apparently warned Thakkar many times to leave his wife alone, without success.

Finally, Patil decided to murder Thakkar with the help of three of his friends. On January 1, when Thakkar was coming out of a hotel, Patil and his friends allegedly forced him into a car, killed him and threw his body into the Thane creek after tying a 38kg steel rod to it.

The same day, Thakkar’s parents lodged a missing person’s complaint at Naupada police station.

Soon after, the police traced Thakkar’s last location through his mobile phone and also scanned his last call and SMS records. The trail led them to Patil, who confessed to the crime and also named his accomplices.