₹50 lakh transaction leads police to close aide for plotting Vasai businessman’s murder

MUMBAI: It was a ₹50 lakh transaction, not the bullets fired at him, that cracked open the alleged conspiracy to kill Vasai businessman Mohansingh Laxmansingh Parmar over a ₹32 crore debt, with police naming his trusted business partner as the mastermind behind the plot

MUMBAI: It was a ₹50 lakh transaction, not the bullets fired at him, that cracked open the alleged conspiracy to kill Vasai businessman Mohansingh Laxmansingh Parmar over a ₹32 crore debt, with police naming his trusted business partner as the mastermind behind the plot.

Police officers say businessman Parmar, a partner at GSM Foils Ltd in Vasai East, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt allegedly masterminded by his own business partner, Sagar Bhanusali, who, according to police, wanted to avoid repaying a massive loan and seize complete control of the business.

The seven accused were produced before a court on Saturday and remanded to police custody till August 5. According to Dilip Ghuge, senior police inspector of Waliv police station, Bhanusali had joined the firm, whose annual turnover is around ₹35,000 crore, only three years ago after serving as its chartered accountant.

On July 25, Parmar had just stepped out of the firm’s office at Diamond Industrial Estate in Waliv, Vasai East, when two men on a motorcycle intercepted him. One of them allegedly fired at Parmar, with the bullet striking his shoulder. As the assailant fired a second shot, Parmar managed to block it before the attacker allegedly struck him repeatedly with the butt of the pistol.

“Bhanusali was completely off our radar because he himself took the injured to the hospital. Parmar and his entire family trusted him,” Ghuge said.

That trust, investigators allege, masked a financial motive.

Police said Bhanusali had allegedly suffered heavy losses in the international gold trading market following the America-Iran war. As a newly inducted partner, he was not yet eligible to sell his shares in the company. Investigators said he persuaded Parmar to sell his own shares instead and use the proceeds to clear loans worth ₹32 crore that Bhanusali owed to several lenders. He allegedly promised to repay Parmar after six months, when he would become eligible to sell his own stake.

According to police, Parmar first transferred ₹50 lakh directly to Bhanusali and paid the remaining amount to his lenders. Investigators allege that once the debt was settled, Bhanusali began plotting Parmar’s murder so he would never have to repay the money.

Police said Bhanusali allegedly approached one of his lenders, Vijay Kumar Vishwakarma, who runs a money transaction business in Goregaon, around four months ago and allegedly offered him ₹30 lakh to help execute the plan.

Vishwakarma then allegedly contacted an acquaintance in Uttar Pradesh to procure a pistol for ₹40,000 from Manoj Thathera and arrange a shooter. Police identified the alleged shooter as Sujit Pandey. “Neither Vijay nor the shooters have any criminal background,” Ghuge said.

Investigators said Pandey and the motorcycle rider arrived in Vasai about 15 days before the attack and carried out a reconnaissance of the area under Bhanusali’s instructions.

On the day of the shooting, the two allegedly left their mobile phones with Vishwakarma and wore masks to avoid being identified on CCTV cameras.

“Since the shooters were inexperienced, they missed,” Ghuge said. After the attack, police said, the motorcycle rider fled towards Uttar Pradesh via Bhiwandi while Pandey boarded a train to Vapi and stayed at a relative’s house. The motorcycle was allegedly abandoned on a highway before being collected by another person and taken to Anup Prajapati, who owns a garage in Goregaon, where investigators say it was dismantled.

The breakthrough came after investigators repeatedly questioned Bhanusali over the past week. “When I saw the transaction of ₹50 lakh, I questioned Parmar but he was tight-lipped about it,” Ghuge said. Police said it was only when Bhanusali was confronted with the financial trail that his demeanour changed, raising investigators’ suspicions.

During interrogation, police said, Bhanusali admitted that he had persuaded Parmar to help him overcome his financial crisis by arranging funds through the sale of company shares. Investigators allege that after Parmar paid around ₹32 crore, Bhanusali conspired to have him killed both to avoid repaying the amount and to gain complete control of the business.