Sixteen months after he brutally murdered a 63-year-old woman while committing a house break-in, the prime accused of the horrifying daylight crime in Virar, finally landed into the custody of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police.
According to the police, the incident was reported from the Virat Nagar area of Virar (west) on December 27, 2019, when three robbers had broken into an apartment and brutally attacked the elderly woman before fleeing with gold and silver ornaments worth more than Rs. 7.28 lakh.
The woman succumbed to the grievous injuries which were inflicted on her chest by the accused with a knife, police said. While two people were arrested by the erstwhile Palghar district police, the kingpin identified as Vinod Bhimsen Padvi had managed to evade the police dragnet for nearly 16 months.
While re-investigating unsolved cases, a detection unit attached to Virar police led by Police Inspector ( Crime) Vivek Sonawane and PSI Abhijeet Taylor under the supervision of ACP Renuka Bagde activated their core informer network.
Acting on a tip-off, supported by a robust technical surveillance system, the team apprehended Padvi from Naigaon. While Padvi had apparently arrived to murder another woman, the matter was under investigation.
The police team also recovered stolen booty worth Rs. 5.36 lakh from the possession of the accused who has been charged under sections 302, 397 and 351 of the IPC.
Not ruling out the involvement of the accused in other serious offences, officials from the Virar police station are conducting further investigations into the case.
