Lohariya murder: Year on, ‘main conspirator’ surrenders

Garg went absconding after the Navi Mumbai police registered a case against him, and has been on the run since. The case was subsequently transferred to the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, while Garg applied for an anticipatory bail first with the metropolitan magistrate’s court in Vashi, then the Bombay High Court and ultimately the Supreme Court. However, his plea was rejected at all three levels, and the apex court instructed him to surrender before the police.

“Garg surrendered to our officers at the Thane court on Friday evening. We then placed him under arrest and produced him before the court, where he was remanded to our custody till May 16,” said an officer with the Crime Branch.

The officer added that Garg’s arrest is significant in the case as he is the main conspirator of the murder. According to the police, he was introduced to Amolik by arrested accused Suresh Bijlani, and kept in touch with the former encounter specialist. After Lohariya repeatedly filed complaints and Right To Information applications against Garg and his associates, Garg is alleged to be the one who hit upon the “ultimate solution to the problem” and gave the contract to Amolik.

In February, the police produced the call data records of conversations reportedly held between Navi Mumbai commissioner A K Sharma and Garg in connection to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by activist Ketan Tirodkar, who had sought that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), claiming that the local police was not conducting the inquiry in a fair manner.

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