Real estate agent arrested for woman’s murder in Shivajinagar

The police on Wednesday arrested Babu Bhagwan Patel (60), a real estate agent, in connection with the murder of a middle-aged woman whose body was dumped in a plastic drum in Shivajinagar on May 11.

Police said six teams from Chembur, Shivajinagar, Mulund and Tilak Nagar police stations and the Crime Branch investigated the case after a decomposed body was discovered from a plastic drum in the vicinity of the Shivajinagar police station. The police said the murder was most likely to have been committed on May 7 and that the reason was yet to be ascertained.

“The body was tied in a gunny bag inside the drum and found in a society behind Shivajinagar police station. During investigation, we came to know that the body was brought to Shivajinagar from APMC market in Vashi by tempo,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-VI, Shahaji Umap, said at a press conference that was held in Chembur.

Further investigation took the police to APMC market in Vashi where a tempo with similar drums was discovered. The driver revealed that the drums had been transported from Karave village in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, for ₹600. The driver claimed he was unaware of what the drums contained.

Mr. Umap said the accused, a resident of Karave village, had confessed to having killed the victim Meena, a prostitute operating from Dadar, in his house, in the presence of his wife.

“The wife, Patel claimed, left for Jalgaon after the incident. We have sent a team to locate her in order to get more details about the murder. We are yet to verify her role in the plan,” police said.

The accused lived in Shivajinagar around 10 years ago, and since he was familiar with this area, he disposed of the body there, ensuring it was far from the place of murder.

₹15,000 reward

Police said the post-mortem had revealed that Meena had died four to five days before the police detected the body. Police are waiting for the reports to know the exact cause of her death and trying to find claimants for the body. The investigating teams have been jointly rewarded ₹15,000.