Mumbai: A 38-year-old man, Anand Narayan, was found murdered at his residence in Antop Hill early on Tuesday morning. Police suspect Narayan's two friends, who were last seen leaving Narayan's building at 2 am, to have killed him. A case of murder was registered against them and they were arrested within 12 hours. The duo has been booked under relevant sections of the IPC for murder.
According to police sources, Narayan, an employee of a news channel and a part-time hotelier, had entered his building, Penta Galaxy at Wadala, on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday with two men —Sarang Patharkar and Selvam Manigam Devendra alias Tambi. In a CCTV footage, one of the accused was seen carrying a knife in his pocket when they entered Narayan’s house, who was alone at the time.
At 2 am on Tuesday, Tambi and Patharkar left quickly from the house. Before the duo left, neighbours heard cries of help from Narayan's house and opened the house with a spare key. The neighbours were shocked to see Narayan lying in a pool of blood with his throat slit. They immediately rushed Narayan to the civic-run Sion Hospital, where he was declared dead before arrival and informed the police.
Antop Hill Police registered a case of murder against unidentified persons and began investigation. During the investigation, it was revealed that Narayan had started a hotel business with Patharkar in 2015 in Parel for which he mortgaged his house and his wife’s jewellery in the hope of making profits later on. However, couple of years later, his investment of around Rs 1.5-2 crore was lost. Soon after the hotel in Parel went into losses, Narayan set up another hotel in Dadar, which was doing well.
A police officer said that last month Patharkar had demanded Rs 70 lakh from Narayan as he wanted to set up an independent hotel. However, Narayan refused to help him with financial aid, which is suspected to be the motive for murder, said a senior police inspector. On Monday night, the trio had met to resolve the issue, but Patharkar and Tambi had come armed with a sharp knife to kill Narayan, added the police officer.
Acting on a tip-off, police teams were sent to Pune, where Patharkar and Tambi were detained for questioning. After the duo confessed, they were arrested for killing Narayan and brought to Mumbai.
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