Solving Crime | Underworld threat, fake license plate and CCTV cameras just 2 km apart: How Karnataka police tracked a Pune businessman’s killer over an affair

Vinayak Naik, 58, a successful Pune-based businessman dealing in electrical appliances, lay dead in a pool of blood. The attack had been swift and merciless. Some men had broken into the house around 5.15 am, just as the couple was preparing to leave for Pune after attending a religious ceremony.

Vrashali Naik, severely injured but alive, was rushed to a hospital in Karwar. She was in shock and barely able to speak. Her screams had scared off the attackers, saving her life but not her husband’s.

According to Vinayak Naik’s sister, Shrutika Naik, she received a call from Vrashali Naik at 5.45 am on the fateful day, wherein she learnt that both Vinayak and Vrashali Naik had been brutally attacked. Shrutika Naik immediately called her elder brother Madhav Kashinath Naik, and they rushed to the house. After they reached the spot, they found Vinayak Naik’s lifeless body.

Thereafter, when the police started examining the site, they noticed that the valuables in the house were intact.

Recalling the events of the day, S V Girish, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Karwar sub-division, said, “I was sleeping around 6.30 am when I got the call about the murder. I soon headed to the murder site, the then SP of Uttara Kannada, M Narayana, also reached the spot.”

“We found that there was no robbery or dacoity, and the people who had entered the house had the sole purpose to kill Vinayak Naik. There were other challenges in the investigation… although Vinayak was born in this region, he had settled in Pune long back and did not have many connections in his native village. He visited the village annually for a religious event. So, it was clear that there was no reason for locals to kill him,” S V Girish added.

A case was registered under sections 103(1) (murder), 109(1) (causing death), 329(3) (criminal trespass), and 3(5) (criminal act with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Fake licence plate

With the injured Vrashali Naik not in a position to talk, the first lead that the police managed to get was CCTV footage in which a Maruti Swift car was first seen arriving at the Naik house and then speeding away just after the attack. Upon checking, the police found that the vehicle had a fake licence plate.

DCP of Electronic City, M Narayana (in pic) (Express Photo)

M Narayana, who is presently the DCP of Electronic City in Bengaluru, said, “There were houses next to Vinayak’s house, but there were no occupants. Vrashali was the only eyewitness, but she was in a state of shock. The couple’s son was living in the US.”

Two directions

S V Girish said the investigation initially was heading in two directions. “At one end, we were questioning family members and friends of Vinayak Naik to know if there was any threat from the underworld or business rivalry in Pune. On the other hand, we were tailing CCTV cameras to locate the car and its occupants,” he added.

“The police team investigating CCTV footage found something interesting,” Girish said, adding, “The occupants who had come in the Maruti Swift car headed towards Goa after killing Vinayak Naik. Footage from 2 CCTV cameras installed 2 km apart from each other showed that the number plate of the vehicle was changed within that stretch.”

At this point, the police checked the new number plate ownership and found that the vehicle belonged to one Praveen Sudheer from Goa. Upon further checking, it was found that Sudheer had sold the car to one Ashok Rane, who also lived in Goa.

While the police started to track Ashok Rane, the police intelligence team in Hankon village gathered some interesting information and zeroed in on a possible suspect: Guruprasad Rane, a businessman who ran a liquor distillery in Goa.

The police found that Guruprasad Rane was a distant relative of Vinayak Naik, and the two had fights in the past, as Guruprasad Rane was reportedly having an extramarital affair with Vrashali Naik. Moreover, even Vinayak Naik had an alleged affair with Guruprasad Rane’s wife.

According to a police officer, relatives on both sides were aware of the situation, but they did not open up, prolonging the investigation in the process.

S V Girish said, “At this point, Guruprasad Rane became the subject of interest for us, and we started searching for him.

Vinayak Naik, 58, a successful Pune-based businessman dealing in electrical appliances, lay dead in a pool of blood. (Express Photo)

“On the other hand, the police had managed to reach out to Ashok Rane, who confirmed that the Swift car belonged to him, but Guruprasad Rane had borrowed the car from him just a day before the murder. So, both angles of investigation were pointing at one person, Guruprasad Rane.”

A police team in Goa found that Guruprasad Rane was not at his residence, but they caught hold of Lakshya Jyothinath, 31, an assistant to Guruprasad Rane who was “more than family to him”.

A police officer said, “In the footage from one of the CCTV cameras installed at a toll plaza, we could see Lakshya’s face. We believed he was involved in the killing and started to question him, and he confessed.

“On September 19, Guruprasad Rane’s wife arrived in Hankon village and confronted Vinayak Naik’s family, picking up a public fight. Enraged and humiliated, Vinayak Naik called Guruprasad Rane and abused him over the phone for sending his wife to create a scene in his ancestral village. He warned Rane to ‘maintain distance’.

“Lakshya was a loyalist to Guruprasad, and he volunteered to kill Naik. Lakshya, a native of Assam, then hired Ajmal, 24, and Masoom, 23, both natives of Bihar working in Goa, and went ahead with the plan to kill Naik.”

S V Girish, Deputy Superintendent of Police. (Express Photo)

The manhunt

As the hunt for Guruprasad Rane got intense, a car belonging to him was found parked near the Mandovi River in Goa. S V Girish said, “We suspected that Guruprasad Rane may have died by suicide, and in two days, we also retrieved his body. It appears that he assumed that the police may not be suspecting him, but once he came under the radar, fearing arrest, he may have committed suicide.”

With Lakshya caught and Guruprasad Rane dead, the Uttara Kannada police took the help of the Delhi crime branch to nab Ajmal and Masoom.

Explaining the switching of number plates, Girish said, “The accused crossed the Goa border with a genuine number plate. But a few km away from Naik’s house, they changed the number plate. Once again, after the murder, they travelled for some 10 km and switched back to the genuine registration plate.”

The arrests

On September 26, 2024, the Chitakula police station in Uttara Kannada district announced the arrest of the accused. The police later filed the chargesheet against Ajmal, Lakshya Jyothinath and Masoom. At present, the case is in the stage of trial.

Meanwhile, Vrashali Naik, who was injured in the attack, has recovered and is now living with her son.