The Navi Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch has apprehended three suspects in connection with the murder of a 19-year-old boy who had reportedly chased them after they stole mobile phones from his residence in Panvel.
Vinay Patil’s lifeless body was discovered under a flyover on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, some distance away from his home.
The incident took place in the early hours of March 28, when Vinay, along with his sister and father, was asleep at their residence in Shivkar village in Panvel taluka.
They were disturbed by some commotion outside their house, but upon checking, they found nothing suspicious and went back to bed. Later, Vinay’s sister discovered that her brother was missing, and their search led them to find his corpse under a flyover.
The family then took him to the hospital where he was declared dead. Navi Mumbai Police registered a case of murder and initiated an investigation.
On Sunday, a team from the Crime Branch arrested three suspects who worked in a nearby bakery. The accused were identified as Dinesh Saroj (20), Virendra Kumar Saroj (21), and Chandrashekhar Kumar Lalji (22). During questioning, the trio confessed to the crime and revealed that Vinay had caught them stealing mobile phones from his house.
He had given chase, and when the suspects noticed him following them, they attacked him with an axe multiple times, leading to his death. The accused then dumped his body below a flyover and fled the scene. The suspects were produced before a local court and have been remanded to police custody.