Mumbai: Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) Police are on the lookout for the ‘woman’, over whom Avinash Solanki and the prime suspect in his murder, Nilesh Shukla, are heard arguing in an audio clip. Police have recorded the statement of Nilesh Shukla’s brother after he submitted the audio recordings, where he has also mentioned a woman in Shukla’s life.
Solanki, a police informant and key witness in the 2011 double murder of Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandez, allegedly had an argument with Nilesh Shukla days prior to the murder. Although the audio clip indicates the duo fighting over a woman, primary investigation by police indicates a financial dispute might have been the motive behind Solanki’s murder.
From the audio clips given to the police, it seems Shukla and Solanki were arguing over an unidentified woman, suspected to be a bar dancer. However, when the police questioned friends and associates of Solanki, they spoke of a financial tussle between the two partners, and never was there a mention of a woman by Solanki.
MIDC police are trying to ascertain the role of the ‘woman’ who is apparently at the centre of the argument in the audio clip sent by Shukla to his brother. To learn more, police have pulled up Shukla’s call data records to and link them to the unidentified woman.
Sources said Shukla’s brother has been cooperating with police and has promised every possible assistance in the probe. Police are yet to trace Shukla, who is absconding with his bodyguard-cum-driver.
A senior police officer said, “We have the evidence in the form of CCTV camera footage, placing Shukla near the shop where Solanki’s body was found early on Monday. The last known location of Shukla’s phone was observed on a highway in Uttar Pradesh, and two teams have been sent to nab him there.”
Police are also scanning the CCTV camera feed from all major railway stations between the city and Uttar Pradesh to map his movements.