Trio arrested for killing man, dumping body in Vaitarna river

Three people arrested for allegedly killing a man who demanded money from them for selling bottled water on trains in India.

Three people allegedly killed a 25-year-old man after he demanded “hafta” for “allowing” them to sell bottled water on long-distance trains and dumped his body in the Vaitarna river, police said and added the trio was arrested on Monday.

Trio arrested for killing man, dumping body in Vaitarna river

The body of the victim, a resident of Ulhasnagar, was found in a decomposed state on the riverbanks at Mokhada in Palghar on February 3. The body had injury marks, and a post-mortem revealed the man had died homicidal death, an officer from Mokhada police station said. A case under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code was registered.

According to the police, there were several tattoos in Marathi and English on the body. On his right arm a tattoo said “Rana Rajpoot” in Marathi while on his left arm “AaiBaba” was written with a symbol of heart and letters “SD”. Near his thumb was the name “Tamanna” written in Marathi, the police officer said.

Assistant police inspector Pradeep Geete from the crime branch said they also found blade marks on his wrists – indicating that he was doing drugs. He said they circulated the victim’s photo to all anti-narcotic cells (ANCs), assuming that if he was an addict he might have been arrested in a drugs-related case.

The Mokhada police received a positive response from the Ulhasnagar ANC. A fingerprint match identified the victim as Depak Mansingh Thoke, 25, who sold bottled water on long-distance trains.

Geete said after enquiries with people at various railway stations on the Central Railway, the police zeroed in on two people - Sakumar Kadamachi, 22, and Kishore Jitendra Shetche, 29.

On questioning the two, they revealed that there was a dispute between them over selling bottled water on trains and Thoke had been demanding “hafta” for allowing them to do business on his turf. He even assaulted them when they refused to pay him, the crime branch officer said.

On February 1, when Thoke went to their house in Titwala to demand money, the two along with their friend Pintya Chittari, 38, assaulted him till he fell unconscious. The three then placed him in a four-wheeler belonging to Chittari’s friend and left for Kasara ghat. They reached Kalegaon in Thane district around 1 am on February 2 and after stabbing him multiple times in his chest and stomach and clobbering his head with a rock, they threw him into the Vaitarna from the bridge, the officer said, adding the body was found around 35 km away at Mokhada.

Geete said the three men were produced before a court on Tuesday which remanded them in police custody.