While the body was found on December 4, the family members of the deceased identified him on Friday.. (Representational)DAYS AFTER a 57-year-old diamond merchant from Ghatkopar (East) went missing, his body was found in the bushes of Mere village in Panvel. While the body was found on December 4, the family members of the deceased identified him on Friday.
Rajeshwar Udani had gone missing on November 27 after he left his chauffeur driven car on the Eastern Express Highway. With his cellphone not reachable, and Udani failing to return his Garodai Nagar residence in Ghatkopar, a missing complaint was registered with the Pant Nagar police on November 28 by his family members.
“On November 27, while returning home, Udani asked his driver to take the car near the Vikhroli traffic division. He got off there and asked the driver to take the car home. The driver saw him getting into a white car that was parked ahead of them… The businessman had been missing since then,” said an officer from Pant Nagar police.
“His cellphone was found switched off… We checked his call detail record and traced his last location at Rabale in Navi Mumbai. Looking at the way in which he went missing, a kidnapping case was registered on December 3,” said another officer.
On December 4, a body was found in the bushes in Panvel near a dam by a security guard. The guard informed the Panvel taluka police, which took the body in custody. “On Friday, we received a call from the Navi Mumbai police, informing us that the body matched the description of Udani missing complaint. We informed his family and took them to Panvel,” said the officer. As the body was found in a decomposed state, the family identified Udani with the help of the clothes and a pair of chappals recovered from the spot.
“The body was then sent to JJ hospital for a postmortem. We are awaiting the report. We haven’t found any external injury on the body, so a murder case hasn’t been registered yet,” the officer said.
