Mumbai, December 18: Jitin Dedhia, 41, a grocery shop-owner from Chiwda Gully in Lalbaug, wanted to kill his wife, Beena, 38. For he was in love with Rupal Chhedda, 39, wife of Beena’s brother, Paresh. Initially, Jitin had wanted to divorce Beena, but she refused. Desperate to have his way, Jitin, with Rupal as his confidante, decided to eliminate her. And that he did with the help of three associates on October 27.
Jitin and Beena were out for a morning walk when his associates, who were paid Rs1 lakh to get rid of Beena, pounced on them at 5.45 am at GD Ambekar Marg, Kalachowkie. One of the assailants snatched Beena’s chain, slashed her throat, and stabbed her in the stomach. Before fleeing, he knifed Jitin in the arm.
Beena bled to death on the spot. Jitin’s injury was not serious, and soon, it healed completely. His plan was successful. Beena was dead, and nobody was wiser. The cops were on the lookout for the alleged chain-snatchers. He soon returned to his normal life, and so did Rupal.
Two of Jitin’s associates — Hasruddin Malik alias Azhar Khan, 28, and Mohammad Nazim Talan Khan, 22 — left for Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. His third associate, Rajnikant Wagh alias Chhotu, 64, a newspaper vendor from Chiwda Gully, continued with his business. It was Chhotu who had roped in Hasruddin, a fruit juice vendor, and Nazim, a taxi driver, for the attack on Beena. Jitin paid Chhotu Rs40,000; Nazim Rs31,000; and Hasruddin Rs29,000.
All this came to light on Thursday, when joint commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Maria told a press conference that a team from the crime branch (unit II), led by inspector Dinesh Ahir, had arrested Rupal, Jitin, and his associates on the basis of a tip-off.
“Initially, it had seemed to be a chain-snatching case, and the cops went after the chain snatchers. Over 450 chain-snatchers from all over Mumbai and neighbouring places were rounded up and questioned. But then, the crime branch got the tip-off, and following it, reached the real culprits,” Maria said.
The crime branch sleuths found out that on the night of October 26, Jitin had called up Hasruddin and told him he would be taking his wife to GD Ambekar Marg for a morning walk the next day. On the morning of October 27, Hasruddin and Nizam came there on the former’s red Pulsar motorbike [MH01 4269]. They waited for the couple.
“When Jitin and Beena reached the spot, there were two more morning walkers. Jitin slowed down to let them pass, while Beena continued to walk ahead,” Maria said. “It gave Nazim, who was armed with a knife, the opportunity to attack Beena from behind. He snatched her chain and slit her throat. He and Hasruddin started to flee, but Jitin called them back, saying that if Beena survived, she would spill the beans to the cops. So, Nazim came back and stabbed Beena in the stomach. On Jitin’s instruction, he knifed him in the arm, and took Beena’s purse and cell.”
“We’ve seized Beena’s mobile and Hasruddin’s motorcycle,” additional commissioner Deven Bharti said.
It took Jitin and his associates three attempts to bump off Beena. First, on October 21, Jitin had given Beena’s photo to his associates, telling them she would be going to Matunga market at 3 pm. But Beena went earlier, and the plan failed. Then on the night of October 26, Jitin told his aides that he was taking Beena to an ice-cream parlour near Don Bosco School, Matunga. But the spot was too crowded and the plan was shelved.
Reward for sleuths: Commissioner D Sivanandhan announced a cash reward of Rs30,000 for the crime branch team of inspector Dinesh Ahir, sub-inspector Surendra Jadhav, constables Anwar Memon, Irfan Khan and Hriday Mishra for solving the “complicated case”.
–Agencies–