Nalasopara tea stall twin murder: Tiff over repayment of ₹20,000 led to murders, say police

According to the police, they scanned the mobile phones of Dubey as well as the victims – Raunak Tiwari, 22 and Kishan Jha – and found that Tiwari had lent ₹20,000 to Dubey. Police officials said Dubey was supposed to return the money within two hours

Mumbai: Twenty-year-old Shivam Dubey, who is fighting for his life at KEM hospital, allegedly killed two of his friends after a tiff over repaying ₹20,000 that he borrowed from one of the victims to run the tea stall in Nalasopara where the incident took place, police officials said on Thursday.

Dubey called Tiwari to the tea stall, however, he did not expect Jha to show up as well, the police officer said, adding, “As the two entered the stall, Dubey sent Jha to buy snacks. When Jha left, Tiwari went to the bathroom to freshen up when Dubey removed a knife and stabbed him on the back of his neck.” (HT PHOTO)

According to the police, they scanned the mobile phones of Dubey as well as the victims – Raunak Tiwari, 22 and Kishan Jha – and found that Tiwari had lent ₹20,000 to Dubey. Police officials said Dubey was supposed to return the money within two hours.

Further investigations revealed that Dubey and Tiwari ran the tea stall using finance from their acquaintance, a police officer said, adding, “Since the tea stall was in loss, the two had been fighting over selling it.”

On May 17, Tiwari transferred ₹20,000 to Dubey, however, his father, Anand Tiwari, was unaware of the transaction. “Anand owns a beetle shop and since he did not have an account for online transactions, he used his son’s QR code in the shop for his customers,” the officer said, adding that Tiwari gave his father’s money to Dubey.

“Arvind said that he was unaware of the monetary transactions between his son and Dubey, but on May 17, when he checked Tiwari’s mobile phone, he found that ₹20,000 was transferred to Dubey. Arvind demanded his money back, after which Tiwari called Dubey and asked him to return the money,” said the police officer. “This might have angered Dubey and he decided to kill Tiwari.”

Dubey called Tiwari to the tea stall, however, he did not expect Jha to show up as well, the police officer said, adding, “As the two entered the stall, Dubey sent Jha to buy snacks. When Jha left, Tiwari went to the bathroom to freshen up when Dubey removed a knife and stabbed him on the back of his neck.”

“The post-mortem report which we got on Wednesday suggested that Tiwari had a stab wound on his neck. We are now looking for the knife that was not found anywhere at the crime scene,” added the officer. “Dubey’s plan took a different turn when Jha entered the stall and saw blood splattered on the bathroom walls.”

Investigations have revealed that since Dubey did not want any witnesses to tell the tale, he picked up an iron rod and hit Jha, who was still in shock, the officer said, adding that Jha pushed Dubey due to which Dubey’s head hit the wall.

“Dubey then killed Jha by hitting him with the rod and quickly exited the stall after dragging Jha, who had slipped into a coma, near Tiwari and removing the gas pipe in an attempt to destroy evidence by setting the place ablaze,” added the officer.

The police suspect that while exiting the stall, Dubey must have tossed the knife in the pond just behind the stall. “We will conduct a search operation to recover the murder weapon,” said the officer.

Dubey will undergo surgery at KEM Hospital on Friday. “He will be arrested as soon as he recovers. He is not able to move or talk properly now,” said the officer.