Pune: After four months of massive investigation, sleuths from Pune rural police have arrested a businessman who had killed a labourer, accused told police that he was Nepali, and passed the body as that of his own to save himself from paying Rs 3 crore debts and also claim insurance money. Cops had earlier nabbed his two accomplices.
The businessman Deepak Kundalik Chaudhary (38) of Naigaon near Urulikanchan, was arrested on Monday in Akola by the Lonikalbhor police with the help of Akola police. Earlier cops had arrested Anil Sainath Chaudhary (47) of Sortapwadi and Pradip alias Pappu Kundalik Chaudhary (32) of Naigaon on March 8. Deepak and Pappu are not brothers, police said, only their father’s name to match.
Police said that Deepak, who deals in cement and pipes, had taken a Rs 3 crore loan from a Solapur-based co-operative bank for his business as well as to repay an earlier bank loan of Rs 1.5 crore. Deepak, who has two wives, had been facing losses in his business for the last six months, and hence, he confided in his two friends and asked them to help him plan his fake murder so that he could escape. Hence they planned to kill someone and pass on the body as that of Deepak. After that, he was to stay away from the village for 5-6 years till his debt was written off and insurance money received by his family members.
As per the plan, the accused picked up Babu, a Nepali labourer, from Pune railway station area under the pretext of getting him a job at Deepak’s cement pipe making outlet. “They had chosen Babu as he resembled Deepak in height and body structure. For two days Deepak treated him with foods and wine. He also gave him to wear his clothes. Later Deepak killed him by assaulting with iron rods and then disfigured his face with a stone. He kept his own identity card (Aadhar) in victim’s pocket. They also ran over a car on the body to pass it off as accident case”, police inspector B R Patil in a report submitted to the court. On Tuesday, Deepak was remanded in police custody till July 12 by a magistrate court.
Police were informed about the body found around 1 am on a bridge near Mhasoba temple within limits of Sortapwadi village, about 40 km from Pune, off Solapur highway. After finding Deepak’s identity card, police called his relatives. However, they didn’t identify him saying his face could not be recognized.
Police smelt a rat when the post-mortem report revealed that the deceased had multiple head injuries after being repeatedly hit with a heavy object. The blood group of the deceased also didn’t match with Deepak’s.
The cops learned that Deepak was last seen moving around with his two friends (arrested accused) in Innova car. Police found some CCTV footage of the area which proved this fact. Within 12 hours of the body being found, cops nabbed the two accused persons who spilled the beans. However, Deepak, the mastermind behind the brutal murder, remained aloof being caught in Akola on Monday.
The police are struggling with identifying family members of the deceased Babu (about 30 years old) whose full name or other details are not known. “The accused have claimed that he was a Nepali laborer. We are yet to ascertain the identity of the deceased”, Inspector Patil said.
Police have seized one Innova car, a motorcycle and a Swift car used in the car
