The Navghar police have arrested four loaders working at a local transport company in Bhayandar on charges of beating an unidentified person to death on the suspicion that he had sneaked into their workplace to steal their belongings during the wee hours on Monday. According to the police, they were informed about a body lying in a public toilet near the vegetable market in the BP Cross Road area of Bhayandar (east) at around 10 am on Tuesday.
While the deceased man – in his early 30s – is yet to be identified, the police initially registered an accidental death report in this connection. However, when the body was found inflicted with several deep wounds, the report was converted into a case of murder. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, a team led by newly appointed senior police inspector Dhiraj Koli under the guidance of DCP (Zone I) Prakash Gaikwad started investigations by scanning CCTV installed in and around the crime scene and got hold of the footage in which some people were seen assaulting the deceased.
After ascertaining the identity of the suspects who worked as loaders, the team apprehended four out of the five suspects on the virtue of tip-offs provided by informers and electronic surveillance system within six hours. It transpired that the accused (name withheld) who were sleeping at their workplace had woken up to some sound and spotted the unidentified man loitering inside. Suspecting him to be a thief, they started raining kicks and blows on him.
The man apparently escaped and limped his way towards the public toilet where he succumbed to the injuries. The accused and the deceased were non known to each other, police said. While the accused have been remanded to police custody till 10, February after they were produced before the district sessions court, Thane on Wednesday, the police are trying to ascertain the identity of the deceased man. Further investigations were underway.
