41 days later, cops crack murder case with help of tattoo, toe ring hallmark

The beheaded body of an unidentified woman in her mid-30s was found dumped under the bridge on Vaitarna river on Khodala–Kasara Road

PALGHAR: 41 days after a headless woman’s body was found dumped under a bridge in Mokhada taluka, the police on Tuesday were finally able to crack the murder case and arrested two accused.

The accused were identified as Sunil alias Govind Yadav, 45, resident of Kencha in Maharajganj Taluka, Uttar Pradesh was arrested from Solapur and his friend and accomplice Mahesh Badgujar, 31, a resident of Shirpur taluka.

With the help of a tattoo on her right arm and the hallmark identifications on the toe rings, the police identified the victim as Mamata Lalsingh Pavara, 35, resident of Lakade Hanuman hamlet, Shirur taluka. However, the police have not been able to locate the head of the victim.

The accused were identified as Sunil alias Govind Yadav, 45, resident of Kencha in Maharajganj Taluka, Uttar Pradesh was arrested from Solapur and his friend and accomplice Mahesh Badgujar, 31, a resident of Shirpur taluka.

On February 7, the beheaded body of an unidentified woman in her mid-30s was found dumped under the bridge on Vaitarna river on Khodala–Kasara Road. After some locals informed the Mokhada police about the body, the police collected the remains and sent them for post-mortem.

“We then started searching for the women in the age group reported missing in Palghar district and adjoining areas but did not get any clues,” said a police officer. “We then checked on the women reported missing in Mumbai, Thane, and Kalyan but did not get any clue. We then widened our search to north Maharashtra and beyond, like Nashik, Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon and Jalna districts. We still did not get any matching records of women reported missing.”

The police then started working on the pair of toe rings and found that similar toe rings were used by women in Shirpur. The police then identified the manufacturer of toe rings as SDS, who informed them that the toe rings worn by the victim were primarily worn by women from a scheduled tribe community called Pavra.

“We then searched for the name ‘Mamata’ in Shirpur taluka electoral rolls and found 445 entries,” said the police officer, adding that the investigators then organised a meeting of all the Police Patils (individuals appointed by the state government as police co-ordinators for villages) from Shirpur taluka and informed them about the crime.

A WhatsApp group of these Police Patils was formed, and information on the victim was circulated. A few days later, a WhatsApp group member identified the woman and shared her pictures, clicked a few months ago at a village function.

Further into the probe, the cops found that the woman was in a relationship with an employee at a construction site where she worked as a labourer.

During the interrogation, the accused revealed that he took the victim with him under the guise of a trip to Lonawala and strangulated her in the car owned by Badgujar. Yadav then beheaded the woman and dumped the body at a secluded spot under the bridge on the Vaitarna River near Karegaon. The accused has also revealed that the victim was pestering him for marriage and transferring some of his property in her name to secure her future.

Balasaheb Patil, superintendent of police, Palghar, said that deputy superintendent of police Ganpat Pingle and Anil Vibhute, who heads the local crime branch, led the investigating team.

The accused were booked under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code.