Navy sailor murder case: Palghar cops rule out kidnap theory

While Dubey had claimed that he was kidnapped outside the airport, CCTV footage from the area does not show any such incident, said police

The Palghar Police ruled out the kidnap theory in the death of Surajkumar Mithilesh Dubey, a 27-year-old leading seaman of the Indian Navy, who was found in Gholwad jungles with 90% burn injuries in early February, and later died.

Surajkumar Mithilesh Dubey, a 27-year-old leading seaman of the Indian Navy, was found in Gholwad jungles with 90% burn injuries in early February, and later died. (HT File)

“We have found that Dubey had stayed at a lodge in Vellore, 60 kilometres from Chennai, and also found his name in the hotel register. He had checked out on February 1 when he was supposed to join INS Agrani in Coimbatore,” said a police officer who is part of the probing team.

“In his declaration before death, Dubey had told us that he had been kidnapped from outside Chennai airport on January 30 and taken 1,500km away to Gholwad in Palghar where he was allegedly set on fire by three unidentified men. Now we are probing how he travelled from Vellore to Palghar. It is a challenge for our team to crack the case,” the officer added.

Police are currently probing if Dubey had willingly came to Gholwad.

While Dubey had claimed that he was kidnapped outside the airport, CCTV footage from the area does not show any such incident. The officer said that Dubey was seen roaming freely after landing in Chennai.

“We are also examining Dubey’s DMAT account for share and stock transactions,” he said.

Police earlier found that Dubey was in debt to the tune of ₹25 lakh and had invested heavily in shares. He had taken a personal loan of ₹8.43 lakh, borrowed ₹5.75 lakh from his colleague and had received ₹8.5 lakh from his would-be in-laws to invest in the stock market.