'I hired professionals to murder Jalawadia'

Dahisar computer engineering student Kaushik Jalawadia, who has been reported missing since Monday, is feared to have been murdered.

Dahisar computer engineering student Kaushik Jalawadia, who has been reported missing since Monday, is feared to have been murdered.

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Rajappa Ghar, 22, who was arrested by the Dahisar police on Tuesday on charges of kidnapping Jalawadia, has allegedly told the police that he got him killed. Senior inspector of Dahisar police station Ansar Peerzade said: “Ghar said he had called Jalawadia to a garden in Dahisar on Monday evening. From there he invited Jalawadia for a drive in a friend’s Maruti Zen. The two of them, and his friend, Sunil Bhanushali alias Jadya, left for Aarey Milk colony, Goregaon (East)”.

Bhanushali, who was driving, allegedly halted the car at an isolated spot in Aarey. Three professional killers, Raju Kalia, Laxman and Don (whose real names are not known) then got into the car. Ghar had allegedly promised the trio Rs 500,000 for the murder. Ghar and the trio then beat up Jalawadia and strangulated him.

As per the version given by Ghar, they halted the vehicle at a small hamlet inside a dense forest area. Two locals, identified as Anil and Naresh, who were waiting for them there, were allegedly tasked with disposing of Jalawadia’s body. After the incident Ghar returned home and along with his family members pretended to join in the search for Jalawadia.
The crime branch is assisting the Dahisar police in tracing the Jalawadia’s body.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crime, Nisar Tamboli told HT that the crime branch took the accused (and the detainees) along with them to the places they remembered to have visited on the fateful day.”