Mumbai Crime Branch Arrests 19-Year-OId Youth For Stabbing Minor To Death With Iron Rod In Ghatkopar

The Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch has arrested a 19-year-old youth for allegedly murdering a 16-year-old minor boy over a petty misunderstanding. The victim was stabbed 11 times with an iron rod by the accused.

According to the police, the matter surfaced when the victim, in a bloodied state, was found unconscious on the night of Sunday at Indira Nagar in Golibar Road, Ghatkopar West. The locals informed the police, and he was taken to Rajawadi Hospital. However, he was declared dead before arrival by the doctors, the police said, adding that a case of murder was registered against an unknown person at the Ghatkopar police station.

Case Transferred To CBI

The case was immediately transferred to the Crime Branch Unit 7, and they started the probe to trace the accused and the cause of the murder.

The victim had an ATM in his pocket which suggested his name as Shravan Salve and using the information, the police tracked down his family. According to Shravan’s father, Ganesh (49), his son was studying in a BMC-run night school, located in Parksite (Vikhroli), in class 9. On Sunday, since he had a holiday, he spent the entire day at home, and by 4 in the evening, he left home saying he would be back soon.

Police Investigation Unravels Suspect's Motive And Capture In Shravan's Murder Case

According to the police, at the crime spot, they found an iron rod, with blood marks - suggesting it to be the murder weapon. They started to look at CCTV camera footage in the neighbouring areas, and even the victim’s movement from his house towards the crime spot.

Several teams of police started investigating the case, including questioning friends and neighbors of Shravan and by midnight they had a suspect in mind - Hrushikesh Gurav (19) - who is a friend of Shravan. Gurav’s girlfriend allegedly was friends with Shravan. Their closeness allegedly irked Gurav because he was under the impression that Shravan was talking behind his back to ‘ruin their relationship’, the police said. Gurav who lived in the same neighborhood as Shravan - Sanjay Gandhi Nagar, Parksite, Vikhroli - was missing from his location. Using informants and intel, police found out that Gurav, after committing the crime, was hiding in Diva, near Thane.

Details Of Gurav's Alleged Crime Against Shravan

Teams were sent to Diva to locate Gurav, and he was traced and brought to Ghatkopar police station where he allegedly confessed to the crime. Gurav, angry about Shravan’s closeness with his girlfriend, apparently weakened his relationship with her. On the crime spot when Shravan reached, Gurav picked up an iron rod and stabbed him at least 11 to 12 times.

Gurav was presented in court on Monday where he was remanded to police custody till April 26.