Two arrested for assaulting, threatening eyewitness in murder case

Police have arrested two persons for allegedly assaulting and threatening a prime witness at knifepoint to get his name dropped from the list of witnesses in a murder case against a local gangster, Amit Bhogle

Police have arrested two persons for allegedly assaulting and threatening a prime witness at knifepoint to get his name dropped from the list of witnesses in a murder case against a local gangster, Amit Bhogle.

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The two accused are identified as Rohan aka Baba Khegde and Sahil Jaiswal. A search is on for two others.

On October 4 last year, members of Bhogle’s gang allegedly killed a Chinese restaurant owner, Suraj Mehra, at Tembipada, Bhandup. A murder case was registered against the main accused, Sachin Kulkarni alias Chingya, who along with his seven associates attacked Mehra with swords, choppers, and knives, when he was returning home from his shop, killing him on the spot, a police officer said.

The complainant in the assault case, an eyewitness to the murder, works at the restaurant.

The murder case was later transferred to the crime branch and further investigation found that Mehra and Bhogale had previous enmity as they had threatened to kill each other a month ago. Bhogale had allegedly instructed Kulkarni and others to eliminate the victim, as he wanted to establish his supremacy in the locality, a crime branch officer said.

The crime branch arrested 10 people, including Bhogale, and all of them are currently in jail. After Bhogale’s arrest, the crime branch seized two pistols, eight live cartridges, a sword, and a vehicle worth around ₹43 lakh from him last November.

On Sunday, Rohan and Jaiswal along with two more persons, associated with Kulkarni, visited the restaurant - Chatak Chinese. The suspects then called the witness outside and kicked and punched him. Jaiswal then removed a knife and threatened to kill the witness if he failed to get his name dropped from the list of witnesses in the murder case, the police officer quoted above said.

Some people gathered outside the restaurant, but none of them could intervene as the two accused pointed knives at them, the officer added.

The witness then approached the Bhandup police. “We registered a case on Monday and arrested both the accused. We are looking for the other two,” senior inspector Nitin Unhane of Bhandup police station said.