Swadichha Sane murder case: Police file chargesheet against lifeguard and friend

The Mumbai crime branch has filed a 1,790-page chargesheet against two individuals accused of killing MBBS student Swadichcha Sane in November 2021, citing more than 100 witnesses. The accused allegedly confessed to dumping Sane's body in the sea, but it has not yet been found. The case is based on circumstantial evidence, including CCTV footage and witness statements, and the accused allegedly attempted to create evidence in their defense.

The crime branch on Tuesday filed a 1,790-page chargesheet against the two persons - lifeguard Mittu Sukhdev Singh and his friend Abdul Jabbar Sattar Ansari - arrested on charges of killing MBBS student Swadichcha Sane on November 30, 2021. However, the police are yet to find the body which the duo allegedly confessed to having dumped in the sea.

Swadichha Sane murder case: Police file chargesheet against lifeguard and friend

Police officers said their case is based on circumstantial evidence and the chargesheet has cited more than 100 witnesses, including four whose statements have been recorded before the metropolitan magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Sane, a third-year student at Sir JJ Hospital and Grant Medical College, had boarded a train at 9.58 am on November 29, 2021, at Virar station and alighted at Andheri as she was to appear for her prelims at 2 pm. However, at Andheri she boarded another train to Bandra from where she took an autorickshaw to Bandstand. CCTV footage shows Singh was the last person to be with Sane before her disappearance.

The crime branch has claimed before the metropolitan magistrate that Singh confessed that when he and Sane were seating on the rocks in the early hours of November 30, he tried to get intimate with her, but she objected to his behaviour. This led a scuffle during which he allegedly pushed her, and she fell in the rocks and sustained head injuries which caused her death, the chargesheet said.

Singh then called Ansari who helped him dispose of the body around 150 metres into the sea, using an inflatable jacket, a crime branch officer said and added that Ansari had purportedly shown the spot to the police where he had dumped the body.

Police teams along with Indian Navy personnel and private divers searched for the victim’s remains and/or evidence for two consecutive days but did not find anything.

The chargesheet includes the statement of a 22-year-old man, who worked as a cook in a Chinese food stall at Bandstand which was owned by the duo. The cook allegedly told the police that he had spotted Singh following Sane towards the rocks at Bandstand and later seen Singh returning from the seashore alone.

The witness also allegedly said the food stall generally remained open till 3 am, but on the night of the incident Ansari instructed the staff to close it early. Besides, Ansari, who never slept in the shop, spent the entire night there, the chargesheet quoted the cook saying.

The cook also told the police that Ansari was aware that Singh had been with Sane in the rocks near the seashore and they spoke on phone at least four times and during their conversations referred to the missing medical student.

“After a few days of the incident, Singh and Ansari were consuming ganja when Ansari told Singh: Andar jayenge to dono sath me jayenge, aur bahar rahenge to dono sath me rahenge (We will go to prison together, if need be, and stay together if we remain outside),” the witness is quoted in the chargesheet to have heard the conversation.

A few days later, the body of a male was found near the seashore when Singh and Ansari were standing near their food stall and were heard saying “accha hua ladke ki body mili hai; agar ladki ki milti to ham dono andar jaate” (fortunately, the body of a male is found. Had it been the body of a female, both of us would have to go to jail), the chargesheet said.

The crime branch has claimed that there are several circumstances which indicate that Singh had tried to create evidence in his defence like – he sent a friend’s request to Sane on November 30 and took the screenshot on his mobile phone. He also made 13 calls on Sane’s mobile number between 1.19 am and 1.40 am on November 30 and took two screenshots on his iPhone, the police said.

The police further claimed that around 1.51 am, he went to the seashore where he killed Sane and dumped the body in the sea, clicked a few pictures on his iPhone to check if the body or her bag was seen anywhere around.

The police on May 4, 2022, also found an unidentified female body near Trombay jetty and sent tissue samples to the forensic science laboratory in Kalina to ascertain if that was the missing MBBS student’s body. The crime branch is still awaiting a report.

Singh was arrested by the crime branch on January 14 this year, while Ansari was nabbed the next day.