Less than 18 hours after they recovered the decomposed body of a manager and waiter from the underground water storage tank of a bar in Mira Road, the Local Crime Branch (LCB) unit of the Thane (rural) police cracked the blind murder case late on Friday night.
The killer turned out to be a waiter of the same bar identified as- Kallu Raju Yadav (35) who is a hardcore criminal. He was apprehended from Pune.
A petty tiff over food had triggered the gruesome murders police said. The incident was reported from Hotel Shabari-a restaurant and bar located in the Sheetal Nagar area of Mira Road. The decomposed body of Harish Shetty (48) the bar manager and waiter Naresh Pandit (52) was recovered from the underground water storage tank late on Thursday night.
Sensing the gravity of the case, SP- Dr. Shivaji Rathod deputed the LCB unit to conduct parallel investigations. Based on the statement given by the bar owner, that he had received a call from the mobile phone of the deceased manager, informing him about the murders, the LCB team led by Senior Police Inspector- Vyenkat Andhale and Sub Inspector- Chetan Patil scanned the call history and established contact with a Pune-based youth who was constantly in touch with Yadav.
The police tracked Yadav’s location and apprehended him from a hotel located in the Parvati Paytha area of Pune. After rounds of sustained interrogations, Yadav confessed to his crime.
In his statement to the police, Yadav said that the manager had been ill-treating him by denying proper meals, during the lockdown. A few days before the incident, the duo had assaulted him following a heated argument over the issue.
While providing more information about the case, Police Inspector- Vyenkat Andhale said, “On the fateful night, when the duo was fast asleep after a drinking binge, Yadav in an attempt to take revenge attacked them with a spade and dumped their bodies in the water tank, before fleeing to Pune. His grudge was that the manager himself had sumptuous meals, but gave him ordinary food."
A case under section 302 and 201 of the IPC has been registered at the Mira Road police station, further investigations were underway.
"Yadav is a hardcore criminal with several cases including murder, assault, and bootlegging registered against him in Kolkata and Pune.” added Andale.
Ironically, the bar owner was neither aware of Yadav’s criminal antecedents, nor had he taken the pains to verify his credentials, police said. "
SP Thane (rural), Dr. Shivaji Rathod, thus, appealed to people to collect photographs, address proof, and other documents to verify the credentials of employees before hiring them.
In this case, the bar owner was virtually clueless about the background of his employee. “If proper verification is done, it undoubtedly helps the cops in tracing the accused and his modus operandi, if any crime was committed. People should realise the importance of getting their employers' credentials verified,” said Rathod.
