Mira Road killing: Court extends Manoj Ramesh Sane’s police custody till June 22

Although Sane’s lawyer, Atul Saroj, strongly opposed the police move, the magistrate granted an extension of the custody till June 22. Sane was arrested on June 8 and the court had earlier sent him to police custody till June 16.

Sane allegedly killed Vaidya on June 4 in their rented flat in Geeta Nagar in phase-7 of Mira Road. He later chopped her body into small pieces using tree and tile cutters and boiled the pieces in a cooker and roasted some of them to dispose of in a nearby nullah. Initially, he had told the police that Vaidya had killed herself and fearing that the police would blame him for her death, he chopped off the body to dispose of it.

However, later the police found out that Sane had searched the internet for ways to dispose of a body. While scanning his phone, the police stumbled upon his browsing history and found that on June 4, the day he allegedly killed Vaidya, he searched for ideas on how to ensure that a body doesn’t start decomposing and smelling. Thus, he chopped off Vaidya’s body and boiled them but his attempts failed as the stench triggered an alarm among the neighbours who reported the matter to the police.

From his browsing history, the police also discovered that he frequented pornographic sites. “Since he could not remember names of porn sites he had also noted down the names of 7-8 porn sites on a paper which has been seized,” a police source added.

“Sane’s sisters have requested the police to make the strongest possible case against him so that he receives strictest punishment,” said an officer, adding, “When one of the sisters saw a photo of Vaidya’s long hair which Sane had chopped off and kept on the kitchen platform, she got emotional and said she was very fond of her hair.”

The police further said they will match Vaidya’s DNA with her siblings and added that a detailed forensic report is awaited.