Palghar: Naigaon police arrest two in murder of petrol pump owner

Police said accused had fled to Gujarat after the incident and were later traced to Uttar Pradesh, detained in Gorakhpur and brought back to Maharashtra on Thursday

The Naigaon police in Vasai on Thursday arrested two people in connection with the murder of a petrol pump owner. Police said 75-year-old businessman Ramchandra Kakrani, the owner of a petrol pump, was found brutally murdered inside his car, parked near Vasai Phatak on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway on August 25, adding that it was a case of loot. 

Police have identified the two arrested accused as Mukesh Khubchandani, the prime suspect, and Anil Thappa, while the search for the third suspect (unidentified) is on. Police said the incident took place after Kakrani left his petrol pump in Virar with Khubchandani. He was carrying Rs 50,000 cash and had been missing from home since then. 

Accordingly, a murder case was registered and a manhunt was launched to arrest Khubchandani and other accused.  After killing Kakrani, the accused took cash and a watch worth Rs 6 lakh and a gold ring worth Rs 15 lakh. Police said they recovered the gold ring and watch from the two arrested accused. 

Police said that Khubchandani and Thappa fled to Gujarat after the incident and were later traced to Uttar Pradesh and were detained on Wednesday from UP’s Gorakhpur district with the help of local police and brought back to Maharashtra on Thursday. The police during the investigation found that Khubchandani, a history sheeter, met the other two accused in jail.

Ramesh Bhame, the senior police inspector at Naigaon police station, said that three teams were formed, including a team from Naigaon police station, the Vasai Crime Branch, and the Central Unit, which began their probe and initially traced the two accused in Gujarat.  “We found out that the accused first went to Gujarat. We traced them, which further led us to Gorakhpur in UP, followed from where they were arrested. The search for the third accused is going on,” added Bhame. “The duo were produced before a local court...We are in search of the third person and are further investigating the matter,” Bhame said. 

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