Mumbai man kills lover’s husband with hammer, dumps body in forest

Prajapati, 37, was missing since June 1. After a missing person complaint was filed at the Samta Nagar police station on June 2, Smita Patil, DCP, Zone-12, formed multiple teams to look for Prajapati.

The teams, under Senior Inspector Pravin Rane’s supervision, scanned CCTVs in the area and learnt that on June 1, Prajapati had entered a chawl in Rajendra Nagar along with another person on his motorcycle, but had not come out. However, the other person could be seen coming out of the chawl and riding Prajapati’s motorcycle. Later, this person was spotted carrying a white plastic sack on his scooter and leaving the area, the police said.

The police managed to obtain his phone number, trace him, and eventually detain him. During interrogation, Kumawat, a Borivali East resident, admitted to having killed Prajapati, said the police Wednesday. He also told the police he was having an affair with Prajapati’s wife Urmila Dewda. When Prajapati discovered their relationship, he opposed it which enraged Kumawat who then decided to get rid of him.

“The accused under some false pretext took Prajapati to a chawl room in Borivali (East) and there had a heated argument with him. During the argument, Kumawat allegedly killed Prajapati by attacking him with a hammer on his head,” said a police officer.

Later, Kumawat stuffed his body in a plastic sack and dumped it around eight km away in a jungle on Ghodbunder Road to remove all evidence. After being caught, Kumawat took the police to the jungle where he had dumped Prajapati’s body. They recovered Prajapati’s semi-decomposed body and sent it to a hospital for a post-mortem examination.

The police have arrested Kumawat under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).