Retired cop stabs auto driver to death, arrested

A retired police officer was arrested on Wednesday for stabbing a 35-year-old autorickshaw driver to death at Shirgao chowk in Badlapur. The former cop murdered the driver as he did not approve of his widowed daughter’s relationship with him.

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The victim Sachin Shinde, 35, a resident of Newali, was in a relationship with the daughter of the accused, Namdev Koyande, 68. The daughter’s husband had died three years ago.

Police said the daughter and Shinde were in a relationship and used to chat on social media too.

As Koyande was against the affair, the daughter stopped talking to the victim, but he continued to pester her to meet him.

On Wednesday morning, Koyande came to know that Shinde is coming to Shirgao and reached at the spot. He then asked the victim to come at a side as he wanted to talk to him. Koyande then took out a knife and stabbed Shinde in his stomach two to three times.

The accused tried to escape but was caught by passer-bys. He was then handed over to Badlapur police. A vegetable vendor, Dinesh Yadav, said, “He stabbed the victim and I heard people scream. But by then, the victim had collapsed. Some passer-bys caught the accused and called the police.”

V S Narale, assistant police commissioner, Badlapur police, said, “We have arrested the accused and recovered the knife from him. He was not happy with his daughter’s affair with Shinde and thus decided to kill him. We have registered a case under section 302 (murder) of the IPC. We are taking statements of witnesses to get a clear picture of the case.”