more-in The Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Sunday arrested three accused in connection with the murder of a Dadar resident. Manoj Maurya, a resident of MHADA Colony on Bhavani Shankar Road, was shot dead last week. The arrested accused include Maurya’s former employer and two hired killers, Crime Branch officers said. Maurya was shot in the back on Senapati Bapat Marg in Dadar early on the morning of October 12. The bullet pierced his chest and killed him instantly. The Dadar police registered a case of murder, while the Crime Branch was instructed to conduct parallel inquiries into the matter. Festering dispute Crime Branch officers said several units, including the Unit V, the Anti-Extortion Cell and the Crime Investigation Unit (CIU), were tracking the case. Assistant Police Inspector Riyaz Kazi with the CIU received the first bit of human intelligence, which led to the murder plot being unravelled. An officer who is part of the investigation said, “In the beginning, we only had a tip-off. According to it, a Delhi resident, who runs a diesel booster business, had an dispute with the Mauryas. We probed further and found out that Maurya’s wife used to work for him from 2015 to 2017. She and Maurya were both staying in Delhi during this period. Maurya would repair weighing scales for a living, while his wife worked for the suspect. We then picked up the suspect for further inquiries.” The suspect, Radhakrishna Kushwaha (37), was questioned at length and he ultimately confessed to plotting Maurya’s murder. He allegedly told the police that he had hired Rajendra Aherwar and Hemendra Kushwaha to kill Maurya. He said the dispute with the Mauryas had caused him severe losses in his business. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dilip Sawant said, “According to our inquiries so far, the main accused paid ?50,000 to the hired killers around five months ago. He brought them both to Mumbai and showed them where Maurya stayed. The duo then arranged for a gun and came back to Mumbai on October 9. For the next two days, they kept a watch on Maurya’s house and memorised his schedule.” The duo noticed that Maurya would leave his residence around 7 a.m. every morning and make a round of the flower market to check if any shopkeepers needed their weighing scales repaired. After making his rounds, he would buy vegetables and groceries for the day and return home. On October 12, the duo allegedly lay in wait near his house since 6.30 a.m., followed him as he left and shot him at point blank range on Senapati Bapat Marg. They then fled the scene. Well-planned murder Mr. Sawant said, “The duo fled to Dadar. From there they went to Bandra and took the Paschim Express back to Delhi. The entire murder was planned well in advance. We have arrested all the three accused. They have been remanded in our custody till October 24. We have taken over the case for further investigation.”

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