NCP leader from Byculla stabbed 20 times by three unknown men

On Friday night after dinner, he went out for a walk, which was his regular habit. It was when three people came on a bike with their faces covered and stabbed him in the stomach, head, neck, hands and chest

MUMBAI: Sachin Rammurath Kurmi, the leader of the Byculla division of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-Ajit Pawar faction, was stabbed at least 20 times by three unknown assailants on Friday night in the Ghodapdeo area of Byculla when he was out for a walk.

Sachin Kurmi (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

According to the Byculla police, the murder took place around 12.30 am on Saturday. “On Friday night after dinner, he went out for a walk, which was his regular habit. It was when three people came on a bike with their faces covered and stabbed him in the stomach, head, neck, hands and chest with sharp objects and fled. He was stabbed at least twenty times after which he was immediately rushed to JJ Hospital in Byculla where he was declared dead,” said a police officer.

The police said they have registered a case under sections 103 (1) (murder), 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of the offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 against unknown men.

The deceased stayed with his wife Anupama, 41, son Shreyas, 17, and daughter Yuti, 21, at Prabhakar Nagar in Byculla. His brother Mahesh’s family also stayed with him. The family ran chains of unisex saloons named ‘Kaichii’, which has branches in Ghodapdeo area in Byculla East, Kalachowkie and Curry Road.

As per the police, two years ago the deceased’s brother had borrowed money from a person. When he did not pay the money back, the person attacked Sachin, and a non-cognisable offence was registered in the matter. “We are also investigating the matter from that angle,” the police officer said.

“It looks mostly that the accused who stabbed him and killed him were contractual killers, and somebody has given them a supari. We are very close to detecting the case and soon should detect it. The accused knew he came for a night walk every day after dinner,” said a police officer from Byculla police station.

Kurmi was associated with NCP Ajit Pawar and was the president of the Byculla district unit of the party. He was considered close to party leader and minister leader Chhagan Bhujbal. “He was a very active party worker, and we had spoken just on Thursday. He told us the work that he wanted to get done in the area. I visited the family they were in shock,” said NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Sameer Bhujbal.