Kirti Vyas murder: Two months on, Mumbai cops yet to find body after friends ‘confess’ to crime

The accused had revealed during interrogations that they had dumped Vyas’ body in a drain near Imax theatre at Wadala

mumbai Updated: May 14, 2018 16:40 IST
Kirti Vyas was a 28-year-old chartered accountant.

The Mumbai police are yet to recover the body of 28-year-old Chartered Accountant Kirti Vyas, who was allegedly killed on March 16 by her two colleagues. The police have searched areas along the Mumbai coast till Alibaug, after the accused reportedly confessed they had dumped Vyas’ body in a drain near the Imax theatre at Wadala in Mumbai.

The murder
  • Vyas worked with a salon in Andheri as manager of the accounts department. Tamhakar was her associate, while Sahjwani headed the salon academy.
  • Kirti left home for work in the morning. When she did not return until midnight, her family lodged a missing person’s complaint at DB Marg police station in Lamington Road on March 17.
  • In CCTV footage, Vyas was seen sitting in the front seat while passing Navjivan society (near Grant Road station), around 9.18am in Sahjwani‘s car.
  • Around 9.25am, when the SUV passed Saat Rasta, Vyas isn’t seen on the front seat
  • It is believed that the accused strangled her, pulled her on to the rear seat and pushed her into the car’s boot [the rear seat is foldable], within a span of seven minutes.
  • After pushing the body in the boot, Tamhankar searched Vyas’ bag.
  • He switched off the two mobile phones in it near Worli.
  • From there, the two went to Sahjwani’s society, parked the SUV, and left for work.
  • After leaving from office in the evening, they took the car and drove it to Wadala, where they allegedly dumped Vyas’ body in a drain.

Almost 50 days after her murder, the police claimed to have solved the case, and made arrests in the case. During interrogation, Vyas’s colleagues, Siddhesh Tamhankar and Khushi Sahjwani, told police that they picked her up from her residence in South Mumbai on March 16 in Sahjwani’s Ford Ecosport. While she drove the car, Tamhankar strangulated Vyas with his handkerchief.

They then disposed her body in the drain at Wadala-Mahul Road, police said. The police tested the blood, found near the foot mat of the seat next to the driver, with that of Vyas’ mother and it matched.

Tamhankar and Khushi Sahjwani are in police custody till May 15.

The motive is still unclear, and the body is yet to be recovered. One of the theories is that Vyas had given a notice to Tamhankar, asking him to improve his performance or get sacked.

The police are now planning to take the help of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) to recover Vyas’ body.

“We had taken the help of the BMC officials and local fishermen to trace the victim’s body in the storm-water. Searches were made along the entire coast of Mumbai and even outside the city till Alibaug, but we were not successful. We are planning to take the help of the coast guard,” a crime branch officer said.

The five boats of local fishermen were deployed for the search operation. Local fishermen searched for the body in the murky waters of the mangroves. Police had also called for high-end drones to trace the body at places which were not accessible for divers and boats. Two men with 4K drones were deployed to capture photographs of Vyas’s body, but none of the attempts were successful, a police officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of police, Dilip Sawant said, “The efforts to find the victim’s body are on. We will take appropriate help if required.”