Mumbai: The Kandivali police on Friday arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with the brutal murder of a senior citizen at his residence in Kandivali (West) earlier this month.
The victim, Devendra Doshi (65), was found with his throat slit and his head bashed in on December 11, in his fourth floor apartment in Pratik Building on Mathuradas Road. The police had registered an FIR of house trespass with the intention of causing hurt and murder against unknown persons and had initiated investigations.
According to the Kandivali police, the first breakthrough in the case came after examining footage from a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera mounted over the entrance of a shop, which is located on the ground floor of the building.
“The footage showed two men entering the building on the evening of the murder and leaving later in the night. We were able to get a couple of stills, which showed the faces of the suspects with reasonable clarity. We showed these stills to residents of the building, and some of them identified one of the suspects as a frequent visitor to Doshi’s residence,” said an officer with the Kandivali police.
Investigating further, the police were able to identify the second suspect as Borivali resident Nikunj Polara (24), a friend of the main accused.
“The main accused knew Doshi for the last three to four years, as he used to supply medicines to Doshi for some ailments he was suffering from,” said Senior Police Inspector Mukund Pawar of the Kandivali police station.
He added, “On the night of the murder, the suspect was supposed to give Doshi gold in exchange for a large amount of cash. Realising that Doshi had a large amount of cash to spare and wouldn’t suspect him, the accused hatched the plan and roped in Polara.
After several days of inquiries, the police traced and picked up Polara from Borivali for questioning, during which he confessed to having killed Doshi along with his friend, who is now wanted, the police said.
“Although we are still questioning Polara, we suspect that killing Doshi was always the plan, as he could have easily identified the main accused if the latter had simply robbed him,” another officer said.
Polara was placed under arrest early on Friday morning and was produced in court, after which he was remanded in police custody for ten days. The police are now trying to trace and apprehend the main accused, said officers.
