Police crack murder case after 20 years, arrest victim’s evasive friend from Thane

Mumbai: The Santa Cruz police on Saturday claimed to have solved a murder case registered 20 years ago. Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Satyanarain Chaudhary told newspersons that on March 31, 2003 Deepak Rathod (23), a textile trader from Delhi, and his friend Rupesh Rai alias Atul Kedia (42) had checked into Hotel Nest opposite Vile Parle (W) railway station. Both had come to Mumbai to make textile purchases. At night they had an argument following which Rai allegedly stabbed Rathod several times with a knife found in the hotel room, covered him with a bedsheet and fled after taking the victim’s bag containing ₹1,30,000 in cash. Around 10 a.m. when a housekeeping attendant Dinkar Shetty knocked on the room there was no response. He then opened the room with a masterkey and found Rathod lying on a pool of blood on the bed.

12 failed attempts to nab culprit by police

The only clue the police had was that the suspect was from Muzaffarnagar in Bihar. Different police teams visited Muzaffarnagar as many as 12 times, but returned empty handed. The police then made an application to the court to close the case.
Assistant Police Inspector Tushar Sawant and the crime detection unit of the Santa Cruz police recently received confidential information from their sources about the wanted accused. The team went to Muzaffarnagar and made discreet inquiries following which it came to know that the suspect was working in a sweet shop at Majiwada, Thane, from where he was picked up. During interrogation the accused reportedly confessed to the murder.

He is now remanded to police custody. During the past 20 years he lived under assumed names in different states doing odd jobs.
Chaudhary and Additional Police Commissioner (west region) Paramjit Singh Dahiya felicitated Sawant and his team for the excellent detection.