Navi Mumbai, October 31, 2026: Nearly a decade after murdering his wife and six-year-old daughter, a 38-year-old man has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Panvel District and Sessions Court.
The accused, Shrimant Anna Nagargoje, had killed the two in June 2016 and fled to Goa, where he assumed a false identity and worked as a hotel waiter to evade arrest.
Nagargoje was arrested by the Panvel City police from Panjim on January 29, 2020, after remaining absconding for three-and-a-half years. He had changed his name to Shripal Yadav and was working at a hotel in Panjim. The police tracked him down following a tip-off and verified his identity before arresting him.
Bodies Found At Separate Locations
The case dates back to June 13, 2016, when an unidentified woman's body was found along the JNPT-Kalamboli road. An accidental death case was initially registered at Panvel City police station.
The following day, another unidentified body, that of a six-year-old girl, was found on the Gavhan Phata-Chirner road, following which a separate accidental death case was registered.
Meanwhile, Mandakini Sanap (45), the woman's mother, approached Jejuri police on June 22 and lodged a missing person complaint about her daughter. On June 28, she was shown the two bodies and identified them as those of her daughter, Sushma Nagargoje (30), and granddaughter Priya (6).
Post-mortem reports revealed that both had died due to strangulation. The accidental death cases were subsequently converted into murder cases and registered with Panvel City police.
Murder Following Domestic Disputes
According to the prosecution, Nagargoje, who hailed from Satara, had rented a house in Jejuri for his family. He worked as a trailer driver and regularly operated in the JNPT area. On the pretext of taking his wife to her uncle's house in Pune, he brought her and their daughter in his trailer.
He murdered his wife inside the vehicle near Panvel following domestic disputes arising from his suspicion about her character. Since their daughter had witnessed the murder, he strangled her as well. He then dumped the bodies at separate locations to make his wife's death appear accidental and conceal the crime.
After murdering the two, Nagargoje reported for work at JNPT, dropped the trailer and never returned to work. He subsequently fled and assumed a new identity in Goa.
Police Tracked Accused To Goa
After the accused went missing in 2016, the then Senior Police Inspector Ajay Kumar Landge formed a team under Assistant Police Inspector Ganesh Dalvi to trace him.
Acting on a tip-off, API Dalvi and Police Sub-Inspector Sunil Tarmale travelled to Panjim and stayed there for three days to establish that the man working under the assumed identity of Shripal Yadav was indeed Nagargoje.
Following his arrest in 2020, the police recorded witness statements and gathered evidence before filing a chargesheet.
Court Awards Life Imprisonment
The Panvel District and Sessions Court, presided over by Judge Santosh Chavan, convicted Nagargoje under Sections 302, 201 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code. He was sentenced to life imprisonment under Section 302, along with a fine of Rs 50,000.
He was also awarded seven years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 under Section 201, and two years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000 under Section 471.
The court directed that Rs 50,000 be paid to the complainant as compensation.
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Government Pleader Yashwant Bhopi and Additional Public Prosecutor Ankush Kadam represented the prosecution. The investigation was conducted by then Senior Police Inspector Ajay Kumar Landge and API Ganesh Dalvi, while Rasika Rathod handled the court-related proceedings on behalf of the police.
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