Eight years after a 55-year-old Mathadi worker was found murdered in Turbhe, the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a fellow worker. The accused, Dashrath Kamble (46), allegedly killed Ananda Sukale to steal ₹25,000, which he had won through gambling.
On December 29, 2012, Sukale’s body was found dumped in a nylon sack near the State Transport bus depot at Sector 20 in Turbhe. The APMC police’s investigating team failed to get any leads and filed an ‘A’ summary report before the local magistrate court.
The case was reopened in May 2016 and nine months later, another ‘A’ summary report was filed.
The case was opened again this year by Unit II of Navi Mumbai Crime Branch. “An autorickshaw driver gave us an important lead in the case. All this while, the accused was staying in the same locality where the body was dumped,” police inspector Giridhar Gore said.
On December 28, after Sukale won ₹25,000 at a game of gambling, Kamble hit him on the head with a rod in a parking lot at Sector 20 around 2.30 p.m. He then strangled Sukale to death with a towel. He went on to hide the body behind a wall covered with thick bushes and fled with the money.
Kamble returned the next day at 4 a.m. and stuffed the body into a nylon sack. He transported the sack to the bus depot in an autorickshaw, which he had stolen from the same parking lot. The accused has 10 criminal cases against him and has been externed several times.
