The crime branch on Tuesday claimed to have solved the murder of senior citizen Arunkumar Tikku with the arrest of three repeat offenders, all of whom have worked with the Santosh Shetty gang in the past. The question of the victim’s son Anuj’s involvement still remains a mystery, with the police neither confirming nor denying anything till further evidence is in hand.
The police said that officers of the crime branch’s unit 8 arrested the trio from different places in the city. The main accused, Vijay Palande, was earlier convicted for the murder of Air India union leader Anup Das in 2000. He befriended Anuj two years ago, introducing himself as Karan Sood, and convinced him to lease out his three flats to a German woman. The lease agreement was signed on March 15, after which the woman flew back to Germany, and Palande’s associates Dhananjay Shinde and Manoj Gajkosh moved in and started using the apartment. However, Arunkumar learnt about this and flew to Mumbai, after which he drove the duo out of the house and started living there
himself.
“On Saturday night, Palande persuaded Anuj to come to Goa with him for a short holiday, while Shinde and Gajkosh barged into the house and stabbed Arunkumar to death. However, a building resident interrupted them, after which they fled the scene. We have recovered a hacksaw,several suitcases, plastic bags and lengths of wire, indicating that the duo planned to cut up and dispose of the body,” said Himanshu Roy,crime branch chief.
The duo then informed Palande that the murder had gone wrong, after which Palande abandoned Anuj near Trombay. Later, Palande and Gajkosh fled to Karad, while Shinde stayed back in Mumbai. He was arrested from Bandra on Monday night, while the other two were picked up from Karad. Mr Roy said that the trio intended to take over the three flats, and might have also planned on killing Anuj.
“We are still questioning Anuj and cannot comment on his complicity or innocence at this stage,” he said.
A crime branch officer added that Anuj claims to have been clueless about his father’s murder till crime branch officials tracked him down. He was trying to contact some of his friends for help when cellphone tracking pinpointed his location and he was taken into custody.