Mumbai man wanted for murder, robbery for 15 years held in Pune

The arrested accused, Vikram Bharat Patel alias Vicky, had committed the crime along with five associates in Surat in 2004.

A 45-year-old Vile Parle resident, who was wanted for 15 years on charges of murder and robbery, was arrested by the Mumbai crime branch in Pune on Tuesday.

The accused, Vikram Bharat Patel alias Vicky. (HT Photo)

The arrested accused, Vikram Bharat Patel alias Vicky, had committed the crime along with five associates in Surat in 2004. While one of them was convicted and the other four were sentenced to life imprisonment, Patel had been hiding in Pune for nearly 11 years and ran a mobile shop. He was brought to Mumbai and after a detailed inquiry, he was handed over to the Umra police in Gujarat.

In 20014, Patel, along with Mahesh Bhosle, Prahalad Lohare, Jayesh Lohare and Mahesh Gurav and one more associate had barged into bungalow 21-B on Ghod Road in Surat, Gujarat, carrying choppers and knife. They had attacked Dilip Bhai, his wife Sobhana Ben, daughter Kanveena Ben, 26, and two sons Swapnil, 25, and Gunjan, 19. Gunjan had died while the other four were injured badly. They had robbed gold worth ₹45,000 from the house and fled. Following this, a murder and robbery case was registered with the Umra police.

Although Bhosle was serving life sentence, he came out on parole in 2014, and did not surrender. The Gujarat police then started circulating his photo and details to every state to nab him, said a Mumbai crime branch official. In April 2018, the joint commissioner of police, Mumbai crime branch, Sanjay Saxena, also asked every unit to trace Bhosle. During the search, the police learnt Bhosle was in contact with Patel and they were in Kolhapur and Pune districts respectively, said inspector Arun Pokharkar of unit 8.

A team, comprising of sub-inspector Amit Deokar, head constable Pradeep Gharat, and constables Ravindra Mane and Anand Tawade were then sent to Pune to nab Patel. They caught him from Chintamani Nagar, said Pokharkar.