Mistress, 26, held for killing ‘unfaithful’ bar owner lover
The Ghatkopar woman and her aides drove the body of her lover all the way to Wathar, 240 km away, where they burnt it.
In a script straight out of a Bollywood crime thriller, a 42-year-old married man from Ghatkopar was murdered by his young mistress and her aides, after she realised that he had several affairs. The woman, Ratan Gaikwad, 26, has confessed to murdering Kanwarjeet Singh Gujjar, who ran a bar in Vashi, and disposing of his body in the jungles near Wathar village, around 240 km from Mumbai, the Satara police have said.
Gaikwad, who in her confession said that she developed a relationship with Gujjar when she was merely 10 years old, was helped in executing the murder by her cousin Vivek Yewale from Koregaon village, and his friends Nitin Waghmare (from Koregaon), Rajesh Kamble, Santosh Bansode (both from Satara), Prithviraj Verat and Deepak Awle (both from Wai). The seven have been booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder) and 34 (committing a crime with common intention) and remanded in police custody till September 15.
The Satara cops were investigating a chain-snatching case and rounded up a history-sheeter from Koregaon, around 175 km from the city. It was this history-sheeter who led the cops to the killers, even though he had nothing to do with the murder.
A Satara police officer who was part of the investigating team said, “We detained the history-sheeter and his friend from Koregaon. The history-sheeter, in a bid to evade arrest, offered to spill the beans on a murder plot. He said that a few of his acquaintances had recently completed a ‘major job’ in Mumbai.”
In a parallel investigation, the Ghatkopar police were probing the disappearance of Gujjar, following a complaint from his family that he hadn’t returned home since August 14. Investigation revealed that Gujjar would spend most of his time in a flat in Ghatkopar’s Bhatwadi area, where his mistress Ratan used to reside for the past several years. Neighbours confirmed Gujjar would visit the flat daily, and that they hadn’t seen Ratan since August 14.
The breakthrough
The Satara police managed to track down Ratan’s cousin Vivek on the basis of information provided by the history-sheeter they had detained, and subsequently, arrested the others, including Ratan, who had fled to her relatives’ house in Baramati.
Assistant Police Inspector Sandeep Bhosale said, “The accused burnt the body, parts of which we have recovered and sent for forensic examination. The accused informed us about the victim’s identity and we have alerted the Ghatkopar cops. Ratan was the last to be arrested, on Sunday. She claimed that she felt used by Gujjar, who had several affairs. He had even stopped spending money on her like he used to earlier.”
Ratan told police that she started working for Gujjar 10 years ago, and he developed a liking for her. “He promised her a good life but for the past few years, she was fed up of living as his mistress,” a cop said.
The accused told police that Ratan asked Vivek to help her get out of the relationship, and they plotted to kill Gujjar. They had planned to sell the Ghatkopar flat as well. Vivek assembled his friends for the job promising them money, and entered the flat on August 14 when Gujjar was asleep.
“They smothered him to death, and dumped the body in his Ford Ecosport SUV and reached Wathar. The accused then dumped the body in a pit they had dug, and burnt it using kerosene,” a Satara police officer said.
In a script straight out of a Bollywood crime thriller, a 42-year-old married man from Ghatkopar was murdered by his young mistress and her aides, after she realised that he had several affairs. The woman, Ratan Gaikwad, 26, has confessed to murdering Kanwarjeet Singh Gujjar, who ran a bar in Vashi, and disposing of his body in the jungles near Wathar village, around 240 km from Mumbai, the Satara police have said.
Gaikwad, who in her confession said that she developed a relationship with Gujjar when she was merely 10 years old, was helped in executing the murder by her cousin Vivek Yewale from Koregaon village, and his friends Nitin Waghmare (from Koregaon), Rajesh Kamble, Santosh Bansode (both from Satara), Prithviraj Verat and Deepak Awle (both from Wai). The seven have been booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder) and 34 (committing a crime with common intention) and remanded in police custody till September 15.
How the crime was detected
The Satara cops were investigating a chain-snatching case and rounded up a history-sheeter from Koregaon, around 175 km from the city. It was this history-sheeter who led the cops to the killers, even though he had nothing to do with the murder.
A Satara police officer who was part of the investigating team said, “We detained the history-sheeter and his friend from Koregaon. The history-sheeter, in a bid to evade arrest, offered to spill the beans on a murder plot. He said that a few of his acquaintances had recently completed a ‘major job’ in Mumbai.”
In a parallel investigation, the Ghatkopar police were probing the disappearance of Gujjar, following a complaint from his family that he hadn’t returned home since August 14. Investigation revealed that Gujjar would spend most of his time in a flat in Ghatkopar’s Bhatwadi area, where his mistress Ratan used to reside for the past several years. Neighbours confirmed Gujjar would visit the flat daily, and that they hadn’t seen Ratan since August 14.
The breakthrough
The Satara police managed to track down Ratan’s cousin Vivek on the basis of information provided by the history-sheeter they had detained, and subsequently, arrested the others, including Ratan, who had fled to her relatives’ house in Baramati.
Assistant Police Inspector Sandeep Bhosale said, “The accused burnt the body, parts of which we have recovered and sent for forensic examination. The accused informed us about the victim’s identity and we have alerted the Ghatkopar cops. Ratan was the last to be arrested, on Sunday. She claimed that she felt used by Gujjar, who had several affairs. He had even stopped spending money on her like he used to earlier.”
Ratan told police that she started working for Gujjar 10 years ago, and he developed a liking for her. “He promised her a good life but for the past few years, she was fed up of living as his mistress,” a cop said.
The accused told police that Ratan asked Vivek to help her get out of the relationship, and they plotted to kill Gujjar. They had planned to sell the Ghatkopar flat as well. Vivek assembled his friends for the job promising them money, and entered the flat on August 14 when Gujjar was asleep.
“They smothered him to death, and dumped the body in his Ford Ecosport SUV and reached Wathar. The accused then dumped the body in a pit they had dug, and burnt it using kerosene,” a Satara police officer said.
