3 history-sheeters held for murder

City police have arrested three history-sheeters in connection with the murder of a man last week in Bhandup suburb here, police said.

The accused trio identified as Bala Bharadwaj alias Bala, Rikee Bharadwaj alias Dharamsingh and Jiya Ansari alias Jiyauddin, were arrested from Pune yesterday by the sleuths of Unit VII department of the Crime Branch, said DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni.

“On Thursday last week, police had found the body of a man, who was later identified as Tulashi Bhandari, at Keshavji Nagar, Bhatti Pada in Bhandup (West),” said Sanjay Surve, in-charge of Unit VII.

The head of the victim was found smashed with a paver-block, Surve said, adding that a case was registered at Bhandup police station under section 302 (murder) of IPC.

Investigations into the case revealed that the victim had been killed by the arrested trio, who resided in the same area as the deceased, police said.

The accused trio are history-sheeters, who has several cases against them in Bhandup police station, said Shripad Kale, senior inspector of Bhandup police station.

“Soon after killing Bhandari, the trio switched off their mobile phones and escaped from the city,” Surve said, adding that they were hiding in several states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi to evade arrest.

A few days ago, police received information that the trio was hiding in Pune, after which a trap was laid and they were arrested near Pune Railway Station, Surve said.

They were later handed over to Bhandup police.

Further investigation into the case is on.