2 junior MBMC engineers arrested for conspiring to kill executive engineer

The arrested MBMC junior engineers — Yashwant Deshmukh, 49, and Shrikrishna Mohite, 46, had allegedly given a contract of ₹20 lakh to the shooters to eliminate the victim Deepak Khambit out of professional rivalry.

The Kasturba Marg police have arrested two junior engineers of Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) and a shooter from Uttar Pradesh for firing two rounds at the executive engineer of the civic body at Borivli on September 29. The police have arrested a total of six accused in the past two days in the case.

The police have arrested a total of six accused in the past two days in the case. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The arrested junior engineers — Yashwant Deshmukh, 49, and Shrikrishna Mohite, 46, had allegedly given a contract of ₹20 lakh to the shooters to eliminate the victim Deepak Khambit out of professional rivalry and had paid ₹10 lakh to the shooters in advance, said a police officer.

The incident took place on the evening of September 29 when Khambit, an executive engineer with MBMC, was heading to Borivli from Mira Road. Two accused — Amit Sinha and Ajay Singh followed him on a bike when he was returning home from work in his private car. Singh was riding the bike, while pillion rider Sinha fired two rounds on the car’s window.

Khambit suffered a minor injury from glass, which shattered after a bullet hit the window.

The Mumbai Police commissioner Hemant Nagrale said, “Both junior engineers joined MBMC in 2004, but neither of them got an important post and promotion. They were angry and hired shooters.”

The police have arrested Pradeep Kumar Pathak and Raju Vishwakarma. Based on their interrogation, police arrested Sinha from Bhadohi district and Singh from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. Vishwakarma and Sinha both have past criminal records and they had met in jail a few years ago. Vishwakarma was in touch with engineers who gave him a contract to kill Khambit, said a police officer. Sinha was allegedly associated with Chhota Rajan and DK Rao gang and was earlier arrested in a firing case in Malad. Five accused are in police custody till October 11 while Singh is being brought to Mumbai.