The Navi Mumbai Police arrested a 42-year-old man who allegedly murdered a 56-year-old woman on Monday afternoon in Ulwe in Navi Mumbai. The body of the woman was found in her car, abandoned near a construction site in Ulwe.
Police said that the accused admitted having committed the crime. However, the motive is not clear, and the police are still investigating.
The accused was identified as Ashok Kumar Mrigan Konar, a driver by profession and resident of sector 9 in Ulwe in Navi Mumbai. He was arrested near Vikas Bhawan in Kharghar on Wednesday evening. Police also recovered a country-made pistol, which was used to murder the woman and two live cartridges from him.
Pankaj Dahane, deputy commissioner of police zone 1 said that Konar has admitted committing the crime. However, the motive is not clear which they are investigating. “He is constantly changing his motive,” said the official.
On Monday, around 2 pm, the deceased woman identified as Prabhavati Bhagat, a resident of Shelghar, along with her husband Balkrishna (62) was on their way for shopping when they stopped at Bank of Maharashtra in Sector 19, Ulwe. While Bhagat had gone inside the bank, his wife was waiting in their car parked outside.
When Bhagat came outside of the bank, he did not find the car, he called up his son after he failed to locate her. They informed the police about the missing spouse and the car.
Meanwhile, the NRI Coastal police received information about an abandoned car, with a body inside, near an under-construction building in Sector 23 which is hardly 500 metres away from the bank where Prabhavati was abducted.
The police immediately called them to identify the woman, found in the abandoned car. Bhagat identified the car and his wife. The police found that jewellery and cash were not stolen and so they ruled out robbery as motive behind the murder. Prabhavati was taken to Apollo Hospital where she was declared brought dead. The post-mortem report revealed that she was shot with two bullets, one in chest and another in the back.
Dahane said that Konar used a stolen car to flee from the murder site and also used a wrong registration number plate. “A case was already registered of a stolen car at Vashi police station. Konar has been booked for abduction and murder under section 364 and 302 of IPC and 3, 5 and 25 of Arms Act and 37 (1) and 153 of Maharashtra Police Act. “We are investing if anyone other is also involved in the crime,” said Dahane.
