Nashik: Two months after double murder, cops arrest neighbour who wanted to usurp property

The murder of the father-son duo, the businessman’s neighbours, was allegedly carried out to usurp their properties. The arrested accused, Rahul Jagtap, 36, lived in the same building with the victims, Nanasaheb Kapadnis, 70, and his son Amit 35. The murders, the police said, were committed in December last year in a gap of eight to ten days.

The preliminary inquiry had revealed that both the murders were carried out in a similar fashion. The victims were made to sit in a car and made unconscious after which they were strangled to death.

The body of the first one to be murdered, Nanasaheb, was dumped by Jagtap in Ambivali ghat in Palghar district. Eight to ten days later, Amit was murdered and his body was dumped in a forest in Ahmednagar district.

Back then, the respective local police had found the bodies and had registered FIRs against unidentified accused but got no leads in the case as the victims could not be identified.

The Mokhada Police in Palghar and Rajur Police in Ahmednagar tried to find out if anyone in that age group with the description of the bodies had gone missing in the neighbouring districts, including Nashik, but got no leads as no missing complaint was filed by any of their relatives.

In the second week of January, Kapadnis’s daughter Sheetal, a resident of Mumbai, tried to contact her father and brother but got no response. She then reached their Nashik residence and found it to be locked.

Sheetal then lodged a missing complaint in the last week of January. The police started searching for the father-son duo but got no leads. They then started finding out if they had any enmity and got details on their financial transactions.

While probing their financial deals, the needle of suspicion pointed towards Jagptap as many shares owned by the duo were sold and the money went to Jagtap. The police detained Jagtap for questioning and he confessed to the crime.

During Jagtap’s interrogation, he told the police that the father-son duo remained aloof and did not interact much with anyone and he was one of the few people who knew them closely.

Jagtap was friends with Amit, an MBBS degree holder, and the latter had given him personal details about his family. Jagtap found out that Amit’s mother and sister live abroad and may not come to India.

He then planned the murders to usurp the property. The police said they are also investigating why Amit did not approach the police when his father had gone missing for several days.