Vasai man kills colleague over monetary dispute, arrested

27-year-old Balram Baliram arrested for murdering colleague over financial dispute in Vasai East. Victim's head smashed, body found in quarry.

MUMBAI: The police on Friday arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly murdering his colleague over a financial dispute in Vasai East. The accused has been identified as Balram Baliram.

Balram Baliram was arrested for the murder (AFP/representational image)

The case unfolded when the Pelhar police found the body of Brijesh Chaurasiya, 41, a resident of Vasai East, who worked at a factory nearby. “On January 17, they had received a call about a body found in the quarry at Dhaniv Pandhripada. On reaching the spot, they found the body of an unidentified 41-year-old, said Jitendra Vankoti, senior police inspector of Pelhar police station.

Since the head of the deceased was smashed and there was no eyewitness, the police registered an accidental death report (ADR) and gave the body for postmortem.

During the probe, the police assumed that the deceased slipped, fell and smashed his head on the rocks since there was no eyewitness to the incident.

After the postmortem report of Chaurasiya came, it was confirmed that he was murdered. The police then registered a murder case against an unknown person and started their probe.

On Tuesday the police recorded the statement of Sarika, the sister of the deceased, who informed them that her brother was upset over some monetary transaction with the accused.

The police then traced his financial transactions and found out that he had given ₹55,000 to his colleague Baliram. The officers traced Baliram and detained him from his house in Pelhar. Baliram told the police that in December he had borrowed ₹55,000 and had returned ₹22,000.

“He said that Chaurasiya had called him to his friend’s shop and made him sign a stamp paper which said that he owed him ₹3 lakh. When he refused to do so, Chaurasiya restrained him and assaulted him,” said another officer.

Baliram, who was angry and wanted revenge, called Chaurasiya to the quarry smashed his head with a rock and pushed him from the cliff into the quarry, the officer said. “We have arrested Baliram under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for murder and are investigating further,” said Vankoti.