Decomposed body of HDFC VP found; professional rivalry possible motive?
Five days after the 39-year-old HDFC banker went missing, his body was found near Kalyan yesterday. Siddharth Sanghvi, the VP of the private bank, was possibly murdered owing to professional rivalry, said cops, adding four more people were detained yesterday. A cab driver, who was arrested on Sunday, revealed about their involvement. Though a case has been registered, murder sections will be added later.
Did the cabbie murder him or just dumped the body?
According to the driver, 20-year-old Sarfaraz Shaikh alias Raees, he was hired by four people, including a woman, for the murder, although some reports suggest that Shaikh was only given responsibility of dumping the body. IE reports that Shaikh has named three people who stabbed Sanghvi to death and then wrapped his body in a mattress and kept it in his blue-colored Maruti Ignis.
Car traced to Koparkhairane, 400 meters away from Shaikh's house
They then asked Shaikh to dump the body, which he did, near the Haji Malang shrine in Thane district. He then apparently drove almost 32kms in Sanghvi's car and left it in Koparkhairane, before walking 400 meters to reach his house. The car's location could be traced when Shaikh switched on Sanghvi's mobile phone for few minutes on Thursday and around 7PM on Saturday.
Shaikh initially tried to misled police, gave four names later
The cops also got a tip-off from an informant, who supposedly saw Shaikh emerging out of the car. Shaikh was finally detained yesterday morning. An officer said initially, "He (Shaikh) said that he wanted to rob Sanghvi and killed him when the latter resisted. In another statement, he said a woman, who claimed to be Sanghvi's wife, hired him for the murder."
Cops are evasive about the sequence of crime
But when he was shown the wife's photo, he couldn't recognize her. All his theories fell apart, and finally he confessed to the murder and named four people, who were detained on Sunday. Shaikh also shared the location where he dumped the body, and cops found Sanghvi's decomposed corpse there. Regarding the crime sequence, cops haven't confirmed if Shaikh's version is the actual one.
Family members tried calling him multiple times, phone was off
On September 5, Sanghvi was seen leaving his office around 7:30/8PM. CCTV of the parking lot in his office building also showed him going towards his car. But everything remains a mystery thereafter. His family members claimed they called him up around 8:30PM, but found his phone switched off. They again tried him an hour later and then again at 10:30/11PM.
Bloodstains found in car rear seat, parking lot
They then approached NM Joshi Marg police station and filed a complaint. Cops traced Sanghvi's mobile phone and car to Koparkhairane at around 9:30PM the same day. They found blood stains in the rear seat of the car, which also had the front passenger seat reclined. Bloodstains were also there in the three-storied parking lot in Sanghvi's office building at Kamla Mills.
Why do cops think motive was professional rivalry?
Cops are emphasizing on professional rivalry as Sanghvi wasn't involved in any family feud, neither had he had any enmity, something that his kin and friends confirmed repeatedly. Also, the fact that he didn't know anyone in Koparkhairane nor visited there has deepened the mystery.
