Rabale police arrested three persons in connection with the murder of a civic contractor and material supplier in Talavli village in Ghansoli last week, and claimed to have solved the broad daylight murder case in just 72 hours. The reason behind the murder was a business rivalry, said police.
The three arrested accused have been identified as Jayesh Lalchand Patil, 37, Santosh Rajendra Dora alias Guddu, 22, and Devendra Hiraman Mali, 22.
Yogesh Gawade, a senior police inspector from Rabale police station said that Tayde and the three accused were supplying materials in construction sites in Ghansoli. However, Tayde was getting more orders than others and this caused the rivalry. “They planned the murder to eliminate him from the business,” said Gawade.
Praveen Vishawanth Tayde, 35, a civil contractor and material supplier was shot dead by three car-borne assailants on Thursday afternoon near Gaon Devi Temple in Talavli in Ghansoli. Tayde was driving a scooter and his associate, Dattatre Jogdande, 35, was the pillion rider when he was shot dead. Jogdande was the only eyewitness of the crime and he had also received injury after falling from the scooter.
Gawade said that a special team was formed and based on the CCTV footage of the area, the car used for the crime was found abandoned in a service road in Koparkhairane on Sunday. He added that different teams were formed and sent to Karjat, Pune, Lonavana, Thane, and Kalyan area. “They kept roaming from one place to another in the last three days to evade the arrest,” said Gawade.
On Monday, the police received a tip-off that they were coming near NIFT in Kharghar. The police laid a trap and when two of them came on a motorbike, they were caught. “Patil and Dora were arrested from Kharghar and then Mali after the interrogation of the first two,” said Gawade. They are all from Ghansoli of Navi Mumbai.
He added that they also recovered two pistols and six 7.65 mm bore live cartridges, a motorbike, and key of the car used for the crime from them.
They have arrested under section 302 for the murder of Tayde and 307 for an attempt to murder of Jogdane of IPC and 3, 25, and 27 of the Arms Act. They were presented before the court where they were sent on police custody till June 15.
