Teen shooter turned 18 just before murder, took contract as a ticket out of poverty

Police sources said that if the incident had happened a little earlier, Kaushal would have faced trial under the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) and sent to a correctional home instead of facing more stringent punishment if convicted in the murder case.

Navi Mumbai: Kaushal Kumar Yadav, the youth who shot dead Belapur builder Savjibhai Gokar Manjeri at Nerul last week, turned 18 years old on March 12, three days before the March 15 shooting. He had accepted the ₹10-lakh contract killing job along with his 23-year-old brother Sonu as a way out of extreme poverty, police investigations have revealed.

Belapur builder Savjibhai Gokar Manjeri was shot in the middle of the road by an unidentified assailant, at Sector-6 in Nerul. (HT PHOTO)

Police sources said that if the incident had happened a little earlier, Kaushal would have faced trial under the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA) and sent to a correctional home instead of facing more stringent punishment if convicted in the murder case.

The siblings belong to a poor farming family in Koela village in Bihar’s Khagaria district. “They claimed they had two elder brothers and a sister back in their hometown,” said a police officer. “Till now, however, no family member has approached us to enquire about them or get them bail.”

The Yadav brothers, who are Class VIII dropouts, last year worked as daily wage labourers in Bandra for close to four months at construction sites. “They revealed that a mason called Rahul, also from Bihar, had approached them with the contract killing job,” said a police officer. “We also found that another middleman called Rafeeq, a welder, had approached Rahul, seeking men to implement the plan.”

While Kaushal was the shooter, Sonu rode the bike and Gaurav Kumar Vikas Yadav (24), the brothers’ accomplice, did the recce before the murder. The pistol was provided by Rahul. The accused told the police that they received only ₹1 lakh advance payment, after which all the people concerned switched off their phones.

When asked how an 18-year-old could operate a pistol without training, the accused told the cops that it was the norm in their hometown to fire gunshots in the air during wedding processions. “We were shocked to learn that an 18-year-old shot the victim without any training,” said an officer. “Even policemen, after receiving training, are often not experts in handling pistols. After Rahul is arrested, we will know from where the pistol was procured.”

All three accused, along with Mehek Jayrajbhai Nariya (28), the first accused who was nabbed on March 18 from Gujarat, are in police custody till March 30. “We will soon nab the wanted accused, following which there will be more clarity in the case,” said senior police inspector Tanaji Bhagat from Nerul police station.