Vasai murder: Accused’s parents reported him missing in Ghaziabad 12 years ago

The Waliv police traced Rohit Pal’s parents to Ghaziabad and asked them to reach Mumbai to record their statements. Pal had earlier lied that he was an orphan

MUMBAI: The police have traced the family of 29-year-old Rohit Pal, arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend by hitting her with a spanner in Vasai last week, to Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. The investigation has also revealed that Pal ran away from his home in Ghaziabad 12 years ago and was reported missing by his parents.

Vasai murder: Accused’s parents reported him missing in Ghaziabad 12 years ago

When Pal was arrested, he had claimed he was an orphan hailing from Haryana. He told the Waliv police that after losing his parents and sister, he dropped out of Class 8 and moved to his uncle’s home in Vadodara. He stayed there for three years before moving to Nalasopara in Mumbai in 2018, he had said.

The accused had also lied to the police earlier that his name was Rohit Yadav. He later revealed after interrogation that his surname was Pal and his parents and two sisters were alive.

To find out whether he was lying, the Waliv police posted Pal’s photo on their WhatsApp groups used to locate missing persons across the country. They eventually got a response from the Ghaziabad police, who said a missing person complaint was registered in the city 12 years ago for a boy named Rohit Pal. The complaint was filed by Pal’s father, who works as a security guard and lives with his wife and two daughters.

The Waliv police have requested their counterparts in Ghaziabad to get Pal’s parents to contact them and reach Mumbai to record their statements. The police want to find out why Pal ran away from home.

Pal was arrested for murder on June 18 after the police found him sitting near his girlfriend Aarti Yadav’s body on a road in Vasai East. Pal had allegedly battered Yadav to death with a spanner because he had seen her with another man outside her home and suspected she was cheating on him. A local court last week remanded him to police custody till June 27.

Although Pal’s lawyer claimed that he was provoked, the police said he had planned the attack as he was carrying the spanner with him for a week before the incident. Pal had allegedly stolen the spanner from a factory where he had gone for an interview. The police have already recorded the factory owner’s statement. They have also spoken to at least 14 witnesses who had shot videos of the gruesome murder.

On June 24, the police tracked down the main witness in the case, who had tried to intervene when the accused was assaulting Yadav. While this witness was called to the Waliv police station to give his statement on Tuesday, he hasn’t yet turned up.