The APMC police registered a case of murder against an unidentified person after the body of a 42-year-old trader was found on the first floor of a gala in the vegetable market of APMC Vashi on Sunday (August 14) afternoon. The trader – Ramayan Lalsa alias Gurudev – had been dealing in vegetables at the market since January 2022. He was a native of the Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the police, Gurudev had taken the gala on rent along with one more trader identified as Sanjay Gupta, from Sanpada resident Lalji Baisya, 68, in January. The police said Gurudev would conduct his business during the day and would sleep on the first floor of gala number D-551 at night. Baisya registered a complaint after the body of the trader was found.
According to Baisya, Gupta and Gurudev used to start work around 4.30 am. While Gupta used to leave for his home around 1 pm every day, Gurudev continued the business till 8 pm and stayed back at night.
On the morning of August 14, Gupta came in to start work as usual around 4.30 am, but Gurudev did not come from the first floor. Since he was busy trading vegetables, Gupta could not go upstairs to check. When Gupta got free, he called Gurudev but there was no response as his cell phone was switched off.
Finally, when Gupta went to check he found the door locked from the inside. Later, he heard from people in the market that Gurudev was found lying unconscious in blood. The police were called and the body was taken to NMMC hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Senior police inspector Manik Nalawade said that the investigation is on track and the accused will be arrested soon. Another police official informed that a team has been rushed to Uttar Pradesh in search of the accused. “The accused had fled with cash and even the mobile phone of the victim. They might have had a fight over some issue,” said the official.
