Three persons were arrested today in connection with the killing of a prominent businessman in his flat in Beach Road area here on July 17, the police said.
One of the arrested persons is a maintenance manager at the Sea Surf Apartment, where the deceased Vikram Prakash Dhamija (42), the Managing Director of Best Cranes (P) Ltd, was living with his wife.
According to police, the maintenance manager, identified as Ch Satyanarayana Murthy, was the mastermind of the crime. As per preliminary investigation, robbery seems to be the motive.
"The other two accused are identified as Riyaz and Nawab Ansari," DCP, Law and Order (North Zone) K Fakeerappa and DCP (Crimes) Shemushi Bajpai said in a joint press conference.
While Ansari and Riyaz were arrested from West Bengal, Murthy from his flat.
Police are looking for Murthy's accomplice Fareed and seven others who are suspected to be the members of an inter-state gang.
The officers said Murthy and Fareed hatched a plan to rob Dhamija as they had suffered losses to the tune of Rs 20 lakh in their real estate business.
"Murthy, a resident of the Sea Surf apartment, and Fareed roped in a nine-member gang from Jharkhand to threaten Dhamija to part cash and gold jewellery. On July 17, four members of the gang entered Dhamija's flat while two others waited outside and three in a vehicle outside the apartment.
"They threatened the businessman but he refused to part money. When Dhamija's driver Janardhan, who was present in the flat, tried to raise an alarm, he was stabbed along with Dhamija and his wife Jyoti," the DCP said.
After the attackers left, Dhamija's wife and the driver raised an alarm, following which they were rushed to a hospital by neighbours.
While Dhamija succumbed to his injuries on July 18, his wife and the driver survived.
"The CCTV footage of the apartment helped us trace the attackers. In the CCTV grab, Murthy was seen in the apartment premises watching over the attackers while they were fleeing," the DCP said.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)