Man arrested after Drishyam-inspired murder plot fails

In Drishyam, Ajay Devgan uses his mobile phone to mislead the police about his location. Mhatre has confessed that he was inspired by the movie. SHAHJI UMAP, deputy commissione of police, zone 1, Navi Mumbai

VASHI: A man who allegedly hatched an intricate plot to murder his lover, apparently inspired by the plot of the movie Drishyam, has been arrested despite elaborate attempts to evade the police. Vikas Mhatre, 52, who is married, is accused of murdering his lover, hiding her body in a drum for 14 days and dumping it on the highway.

According to the police, after dumping her body, Mhatre visited various places carrying his and her mobile phones to mislead the police into believing that she had been with him before she suddenly disappeared.

On June 22 last year, the police found the partially decomposed body of a woman, covered in concrete mix, in a nullah along Shilphata-mhape Road. A murder case was registered at Turbhe MIDC police station.

The Ghatkopar police confirmed that the woman was Sunita Ahire (48), and that a missing person complaint had been filed with them. Ahire, a resident of Ghatkopar, had left her home on June 2.

Shahji Umap, deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, said, “The Ghatkopar police had arrested Mhatre for kidnapping as Ahire had gone with him to Sinnar.” The Navi Mumbai police took custody of him on January 7.

Mhatre had told the Ghatkopar police that on June 13, while on a trip with him, Ahire had disappeared after asking him to wait for her near a temple. He said he had waited for four hours before taking a bus back to Mumbai.

Umap said, “The mobile loca tion of the deceased, the call data records and other details matched the statement of the accused.” As they had no concrete evidence against Mhatre, the police decid ed to try a different approach Umap said, “Senior inspector Chandrahas Deshmukh, sub inspector Pradeep Sarphare, and constable Prakash Salunkhe were told to cultivate a friendship with Mhatre and win his confidence Once this was done, the shock ing details of the crime were revealed.”

Mhatre had allegedly mur dered Ahire after she insisted on moving in with him. Umap said, “On June 12, Mhatre took his and Ahire’s mobile phones with him to Shirdi. He picked a lodge with no CCTV cameras and made a false entry in the reg ister to make it seem like Ahire was with him.”