Four persons were today arrested by the Crime Branch for the alleged murder of a 45-year-old man in suburban Kandivali last month, which was earlier closed by the local police terming it as a case of accidental death.
The four accused -- Jitesh Ramesh Rathod alias Pappu (32), Amit Kailas Patel (28) and Vinod Raju Jain (28) and Hardik Vijay Vaze (25) were arrested in connection with the murder of Kumod Jha (45), police said.
Kumod had been attacked by the four accused, whom he knew, after an altercation with them at a bar on July 27. The victim later succumbed to his injuries in a Kandivali hospital. The local police had filed a case of accidental death and closed the case, a senior police officer said.
The case was, however, reopened after the victim's mother contacted city police commissioner Rakesh Maria.
"Although the case was closed by the police, victim's mother Nirmala Jha, a resident of Bihar, was not convinced. She dashed off an e-mail to Rakesh Maria, who in turn alerted Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Atul Chandra Kulkarni, following which, Unit 11 of Crime Branch swung into action and nabbed the accused," the officer said.
Senior police inspector of Crime Branch Unit 11, Chimaji Adhav said, "We received the complainant's e-mail on August 18 and immediately approached Kumod's wife. She informed us that the accused had an heated argument with her husband on July 27. She named a few accused as well."
The owner of the bar, where the accused and the victim had an altercation, gave some inputs in the case, based on which we apprehended the four accused, he said adding that they would be produced in court tomorrow.
"How the victim was murdered and what was the exact motive behind it, would be disclosed after we get the custody of the accused," Adhav said.
Police have booked the accused under sections of IPC, including 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 34 (common intention).
Jitesh Rathod had previously served a jail term in a murder case and had come out of prison recently.
The officer said they would also inquire as to why local police did not act "professionally" in the case and pursue the matter before closing it.
