Crime Patrol: Auto driver arrested for 2011 murders (Episode 642 on 1st Apr, 2016)

The Inside Story

Mumbai, Maharashtra, Jul 2011:

Auto driver arrested for 2011 double murder

The Anti-Extortion Cell of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested Sanjay Shettiar (28) for two murder cases that occurred in 2011. The accused, who worked as an auto driver after his release from prison, was arrested in connection with another case last year. However, an informant tipped off the police about his involvement in the previous two murders. AEC officers confirmed his involvement by observing him closely, posing as passengers in his auto. After arrest, Sanjay confessed to the murders which were committed along with several other accused. The first murder occurred in Shahpur, where they robbed and killed a private vehicle driver. The second was of a Santacruz-based businessman, Harish Dedhia, who was strangled and disposed of in Lonavala. Sanjay was placed under arrest following his confession and handed over to the Shahpur police for further inquiries.

During interrogation, Sanjay revealed that the 2011 murder was his first crime. He and his friends, Mohiuddin Sheikh and Shivkumar Shetty, had hatched a plan to rob someone after running out of money in Trimbakeshwar in Nashik. They stopped a private vehicle and asked the driver to drop them to Mumbai in exchange for Rs 100 per person. After robbing and killing him, they disposed of the body near Mokhadi in Shahpur.

Sanjay's cousin Shekhar Shettiar then approached him and told him about Dedhia, who had been harassing his mother and sister over a financial dispute. Sanjay, Sheikh, and another accused got into Dedhia's car, took him to Lonavala, strangled him, mangled his face and disposed of his body. A missing persons complaint was registered by Dedhia’s family, and the body was found by the Lonavala police.

The accused has been handed over to the police, and further investigations are underway.

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