The Kasarvadavali police failed to recover the body of Rakesh Patil, the son of a Shiv Sena corporator from Shanti Nagar in Thane, on the second day of search in Vashi creek on Friday.
“We searched for the body the whole day before calling off the operation. We took the help of local fishermen, the fire brigade and disaster management officials, but the body was not found. The body might have got washed away,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone I, Thane, Subhash Burse, said.
Rakesh, son of corporator Manik Patil, went missing from his house in Vijay Nagar in Wagle Estate along with 3.5 kg of gold on September 20. The same day, Mr. Manik Patil registered a missing person’s complaint with the Kasarvadavali police. On September 24, the police found the victim’s two-wheeler in the possession of Gaurav Singh, the driver of Rakesh’s stepbrother Sachin.
Mr. Singh said Rakesh and his father had recently patched up after a property dispute and this angered Sachin, the son of Mr. Manik Patil’s third wife. Mr. Singh said Sachin took Rakesh to a bungalow belonging to Mr. Manik Patil in Wagle Estate on September 19.
“Sachin and Rakesh had an argument while having alcohol and they later went to sleep. The next morning, Sachin shot him dead, dumped the body in a sack and threw it in Vashi creek,” an officer from the Kasarvadavali police station said.
Mr. Burse said the police are on the lookout for Sachin, who is on the run.