Banker’s murder in Mumbai: Accused had tried to rob two others before

The police said that before targeting Sanghvi, Shaikh had attempted to rob two other people in the same compound, but had failed.

The police have filed a charge sheet in the case of bank executive Siddharth Sanghvi’s murder, on Friday.

The deceased Siddharth Sanghvi (HT Photo)

Sanghvi was a vice-president at HDFC Bank and was killed during an alleged attempted robbery on September 5. The police said the charge sheet includes the fingerprints of the accused, Sarfaraj Shaikh, along with statements of crucial witnesses. Deputy commissioner of police Abinash Kumar confirmed that the charge sheet had been filed on Friday, but did not share details saying this could pose a risk to the witnesses named in it.

According to the police, Shaikh, 20, has confessed to murdering Sanghvi because he needed money to pay monthly instalments for a bike he had bought. Shaikh, who worked as a fabricator in the Kamala Mills compound, had initially planned to commit a robbery in the parking lot as he had noticed no security guard was on duty in the evenings.

The police said that before targeting Sanghvi, Shaikh had attempted to rob two other people in the same compound, but had failed. The two people are a businessman’s son and a chauffeur of an expensive car (Shaikh had mistakenly thought he was the owner). Both these men’s statements have been included in the charge sheet, said a police officer on condition of anonymity. The police said that on September 5, when Sanghvi came down to the parking lot around 7.30pm, Shaikh threatened him at knife point. When Sanghvi was about to raise an alarm, Shaikh panicked and slit Sanghvi’s throat. Shaikh also allegedly stabbed Sanghvi three to four times. In the process, Shaikh sustained a minor injury on his wrist from his own knife and his blood stain was found at the crime scene and was later matched, said an official in the forensic department.

Shaikh then placed Sanghvi’s body in the leg space at the back and drove the car to Kalyan where he dumped his body on Haji Malang Road. Later, he parked Sanghiv’s car at Kopar Khairane, a few kilometers away from Shaikh’s residence. He left the murder weapon in the car and fled with Sanghvi’s phone, which he would later use to contact Sanghvi’s father. The police were able to trace Shaikh because of the phone. Shaikh was arrested on September 9.