Five held for killing Nagpada-based builder

The Nagpada police on Sunday arrested five men for allegedly killing a builder a week ago and abandoning his body in a ghat in Ahmednagar district.

The Nagpada police on Sunday arrested five men for allegedly killing a builder a week ago and abandoning his body in a ghat in Ahmednagar district.

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The deceased, Ketan Kataria, 33, a Nagpada resident, had approached his neighbour Sachin Alhad, 33, for a Rs. 2-crore loan three months ago.

Alhad introduced Kataria to Ashok Mishra, 60, who asked for a processing fee of Rs. 5 lakh. Kataria paid Mishra Rs. 4 lakh but then insisted the money be returned.

On June 17, Mishra met Kataria in Kalyan with three accomplices - his son, Hrudesh, 35, Sagar Pagare, 25 and Prakash Cholekar, 32 - and told Kataria to stop asking for the money.

But Kataria persisted, and the accused allegedly gave him sleeping pills in a drink. They took him to Nashik the next day.

During the journey, Kataria got down from the car when Prakash allegedly smashed his head with a stone, after which the accused threw the body in a ghat and abandoned the vehicle.

"We found that Kataria's last calls on his cell phone were from Nashik. We checked with Dhargaon station and learnt a body was found in the ghat that Kataria's wife identified. We then arrested the five, who admitted to the crime," said Vinayak Sawade, inspector of Nagpada police station.