Juhu tutor kills 74-yr-old mother, dumps her body near Matheran
Mother and son got into a heated altercation over property
MUMBAI: A 40-year-old tutor who allegedly killed his mother and then disposed of her body in a secluded gorge near Matheran, was arrested by the Juhu police on Wednesday.
At the time of going to print, the body of 74-year-old Beena Kapoor had been found on the Neral-matheran road but not yet retrieved from the spot as it’s a deep gorge. According to the police, Kapoor and her son Sachin, 40, who is unmarried and lived with her, got into a heated altercation over property. As tempers rose, Sachin Kapoor beat her with a baseball bat, killing her on the spot. After the alleged murder he and the domestic help Chotu Mandal bundled the body in their car and dumped it in a forested area in Raigad district. Mandal has also been arrested.
Police say Sachin Kapoor had taught mathematics in two prominent schools in the western suburbs before moving to taking private tuitions. On Tuesday morning, between 6 and 7 am, mother and son, residents of Kalpataru Solitaire at Gulmohar Road, Juhu, had a massive row. Later, at around 9 am, they carried her bundled up body to the car when they were stopped by the building’s security guard who asked Kapoor and Mandal what they were carrying. They informed him that they were shifting some household good to another flat.
The murder came to light after Beena Kapoor’s elder son Nevin, who lives in the US rang his mother for his daily call and found her phone going unanswered. He then called his younger brother and received no response from him either. At around 10.30 am on Tuesday, Nevin called the building watchman hoping to get some information but he also could not take his call. Nevin, by now extremely anxious, called Juhu police station and requested them to go and check on his family.
A team of Juhu police reached the building and enquired about the mother-son with the security staff. When they went to the Kapoors’ 7th floor flat they found it locked. The police then tried calling on Beena and Sachin Kapoor’s cell phone but found no response. On checking their cell tower location, they found that while Beena Kapoor’s phone was inside the house, Sachin’s cell phone location was close to Panvel. Juhu police then called fire brigade personnel and got them to open the flat. However, they found nothing amiss inside. Subsequently, the cops registered a missing person’s complaint based on the statement of Javed Mapari, the security supervisor of the building.
As a first step in their probe, the Juhu police checked the footage of the CCTV installed in the building premises. The police team saw Sachin Kapoor and the house help moving some heavy luggage – brought down from the flat on a wheelchair-and then driving away.
It did not take long for the police to track Sachin Kapoor to Mauli Apartments in Juhu, which is their second property. Kapoor and Chotu Mandal were detained and upon sustained interrogation, Sachin revealed how he allegedly killed his elderly mother and how he purportedly dumped the body off a steep slope along the Neral Matheran road.
Ajitkumar Vartak, senior police inspector of Juhu police station, said a team of policemen had taken Sachin to the spot where he dumped his mother’s body and that they had located the body but as it has been thrown in a deep gorge they needed additional manpower to bring it up. He said they will try to recover the body on Thursday.