History-sheeter’s skeleton recovered from water tank in Maharashtra months after he goes missing; 5 held for murder

Palghar: Police recovered the skeleton of a 32-year-old history-sheeter from the water tank of a housing complex at Nalasopara in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, nearly five months after he went missing, and arrested five men for allegedly murdering him, officials said on Saturday.

The victim, identified as Ravi Bidlan, went missing on Jan 15 this year, they said.

He was facing a number of serious criminal cases, an official of Achole police station under the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police commissionerate said.

“The crime came to light on Friday after the victim’s brother, Pankaj, approached the police with fresh inputs about Ravi. He alleged that Ravi was murdered by a group and his body was thrown into a water tank at that time. A police team immediately went to the spot and recovered the skeleton from the tank,” he said.

The family identified the deceased on the basis of the clothes found with the mortal remains, the official said.

As per the investigation, a few days before he went missing, Ravi allegedly assaulted one Rohan Jagdale alias Tiger. Seeking revenge, the accused later bludgeoned Ravi to death by smashing his head with a stone and dumped the body into the tank to destroy evidence, the police said.

The skeleton has been sent for forensic analysis and a report is awaited, they said.

Acting on a complaint lodged by the brother of the deceased, the police arrested main accused Rohan Jagdale, 22, along with four others — Karan Shankar Shettyar, 22, Utkarsh Anand Avasarmal, 20, Shakti Sunil Singh, 28, and Sumit Azad Sarsar alias Bapurna, 25.

All of them are history-sheeters, the police said, adding that a case of murder was registered against them.