Driver of Virar petrol pump owner stole watch, gold ring worth ₹20L after murder

Mumbai: Twelve days after the body of 75-year-old petrol pump owner Ramchand Kakrani was found in his car with limbs tied and strangulation marks on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway, his family told the police that in addition to ₹1

Mumbai: Twelve days after the body of 75-year-old petrol pump owner Ramchand Kakrani was found in his car with limbs tied and strangulation marks on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway, his family told the police that in addition to ₹1.75 lakh cash being stolen from Kakrani, the watch and ring that he wore worth ₹20 lakh was missing from the body, taking the heist amount to the tune of ₹22 lakh.

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The Naigaon police, which is investigating the murder and robbery case, initially suspected that Kakrani was killed over ₹50,000 cash on August 26.

The investigating officers said that the driver Mahesh Khubchandani, 58, and two of his accomplices, who are absconding, are the main suspects in the murder case. After the robbery and murder, they fled towards Gujarat, said an official.

The police added that Khubchandani met Yadav and Thapa in a jail in Hyderabad and since then, the three had stayed in touch and planned the robbery. Thapa is a resident of Borivali and is unemployed while Ramlal is a history sheeter.

Senior police inspector of Naigaon police station Ramesh Bhame said that six police teams, including the crime branch, are engaged in the investigation and in search of the accused. Police have identified three accused by examining more than 300 CCTV cameras from the incident till now.

The big heist

After the investigation, the police said that Kakrani, a resident of Ulhasnagar, was going to his house with his driver Khubchandani after taking ₹1.75 lakh from the petrol pump on the evening of August 25. Khubchandani picked up Yadav and Thapa who were standing near the highway. The three then held him hostage strangled him and robbed the cash, a watch worth ₹5 lakh and a gold ring worth ₹15 lakh.

Fleeing towards Gujarat

Police said that after committing the crime of kidnapping, robbery and murder, the accused fled towards Gujarat. The accused used public transport to escape. However, during this time, they also travelled several miles on foot to dodge the police. According to the police, the main accused Khubchandani has a criminal record. In August 2011, he was arrested for giving false information about a bomb in the Golden Temple Mail train. After this, in January 2015, he was arrested for gutkha smuggling in Bhiwandi. While in 2020, he was arrested in Bhopal for robbing his sister-in-law’s house. Apart from this, in 2023, the police arrested him in Ulhasnagar for robbing an elderly woman by posing as a food delivery boy. Apart from this, he has also been arrested in the case of smuggling liquor from Gujarat.

The case

On August 26, a case of kidnapping and murder of a petrol pump owner operating in Virar came to light. The next day, the body of the owner was recovered from his car near Tungareshwar Phata on Mumbai Ahmedabad Highway. The owner’s hands were tied with ropes on the first seat of the car. The last location of the owner was found between Bhiwandi Chincholi Highway. In this case, the family had complained of kidnapping at Naigaon police station. The deceased was identified as Ramchandra Kakarani.