VIRAR MURDER: 3 REMANDED IN POLICE CUSTODY UNTIL AUGUST 3

MUMBAI: The Arnala Coastal Police remanded three people in their custody until August 3 for murdering a 32-year-old man from Virar in the early hours of Friday. One of the accused is the wife of the victim, suspected of hiring hitmen to kill her husband when he found out about her extramarital affair.

Jayant Bajbale, deputy superintendent of police in Virar, said the victim, identified as Yogesh Raut, was an electrical contractor who lived in MD Estate in Virar (West) who came to know of the extramarital affair happening between his wife, Ashwini, 29, and her lover, Raj Arun, who resided in the same colony as the couple.this led to frequent fights between Raut and his wife.

Bajbale said Ashwini planned to kill her husband with Arun 10 days ago. Arun enlisted the help of his two friends, Faizan and Javed. In the early hours of Friday, when Raut was fast asleep, Ashwini opened her door to let Arun and his friends in.

As Faizan and Javed landed blows on Raut’s head with a sharp weapon, Arun and Ashwini strangulated her husband using her nylon dupatta, according to police. They then wrapped Raut’s body in a bedsheet. Arun and Faizan later placed it between themselves on a scooter as they sped away to dispose it in a safe place.

Police said the duo was heading towards Ranpada when they were spotted by two policemen on night patrol in Arnala. During the chase, the suspects’ scooter got stuck in wet mud and skidded, forcing them to leave the body behind and flee the spot .

It was later found that Ashwini had agreed to pay ₹1.5 crore to Javed and Faizan for helping murder her husband. To mislead the police, she was planning to file a missing-person complaint on Saturday morning. Police later caught Arun and Faizan but Javed managed to give them the slip.