Business rivalry behind Vasai murder

The Vasai railway police on Saturday nabbed the murderers of a transport firm employee twelve hours after his body was found by the tracks at Virar railway station.

The victim, identified as Pawan Kumar Pande (28), was allegedly killed by his former employer Mahendra Pande (22), who also happens to be his cousin. According to the police, Mahendra killed Pawan after he had stopped working for him and joined another transport firm, on suspicions that the latter could have weaned away his clients.

The police arrested Mahendra and three of his friends — Rajesh Chavhan aka Dadhi (39), Anupam Mishra (22) and Ravi Patva — who allegedly helped him kill Pawan after summoning him to attend a “party” at Mahendra’s flat in Virat Nagar, Virar, and plying him with alcohol. “The autopsy brought out the fact that Pawan was strangled and subsequent enquiries revealed that he used to have differences with Mahendra and that they had met on Friday for a party,” said DCP (western railway police) Deepak Devraj.

According to investigators, after Pawan was killed, his body was kept in a huge plastic bag and dumped onto the railway tracks. When police officers discovered the body, they thought it was an accident and the deceased had fallen from the train.

However, when they searched his wallet they recovered a few documents, which shed light on his identity. The body was then sent to JJ Hospital for an autopsy. “The primary post-mortem report revealed that Pawan was strangulated, so the Vasai railway police registered a case of murder and started the investigation,” said Mr Devraj.

According to Mr Devraj, the accused had been planning the murder for the past two months.