Navi Mumbai: Four held for Nerul builder’s murder, old rivalry may be reason

The Navi Mumbai police arrested four persons, including two shooters, in connection with the murder of 56-year-old builder Savji Gokar Manjeri in Nerul on March 15. The police said the reason could be 25-year-old rivalry.

𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝘂𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗥𝗮𝗷𝗸𝗼𝘁

The main suspect, Mehek Jairambhai Nariya, 28, is a resident of Rajkot in Gujarat. He was arrested on March 18 for hatching the murder plot and hiring three contract killers from Bihar for Rs25 lakh.

Commissioner of Police Milind Bharambe said that Manjeri was acquitted in the murder of Bachubhai Patni in 1998 in Kutch, Gujarat, after spending 11 months in jail. This did not go well with Patni’s relatives who were allegedly harassed by Manjeri when he was freed, the police said.

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗻𝗶'𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲

“The situation in Manjeri’s native village had been tense for the past three to four months. The plot was hatched to avenge Patni’s killing,” said Bharambe, adding that technical analysis and field probe helped the police crack the case within 48 hours.

𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝗵𝗮𝗿

The two shooters and an accomplice were arrested from Bihar and are on transit remand. They have been identified as Kaushal Yadav, 18, Gaurav Kumar Yadav, 24, and Sonu Kumar Yadav, 23. All are residents of the Khagaria district in Bihar. While Gaurav conducted the recce, Sonu was driving the motorbike and Kaushal shot Manjeri, the police said, adding that the suspects are not attached to any gang.

Bharambe said there are more people involved and will be arrested soon. The motorbike used in the crime was bought from OLX and was freshly painted. Half of its registration number was painted over to hide it.