Mumbai police recover ‘body’ of ex-DCP’s son from Vadodara-Ahmedabad highway

A police team is bringing the body back to Mumbai so that the post-mortem can be performed to ascertain the exact cause of death. The team is likely to reach Mumbai Saturday night.

The main accused, Pranav Ramteke, 25, the maternal cousin of Vishal Kamble, hatched the conspiracy to abduct the mother-son duo four months ago, the police said.

According to police sources, Ramteke has been claiming that his family suffered a lot as they were not given any share of a five-acre plot and a bungalow owned by the Kambles in Kolhapur. Ramteke had been taking care of the plot and was hopeful of getting a share.

“…the property was in Rohini’s name… Hence, nearly four months ago, he (Ramteke) allegedly hatched a plan to get rid of the mother-son duo and get the property registered in his family’s name.

“As Vishal and his mother Rohini would frequently come to Mumbai in connection with some litigation linked to a bungalow and would stay at a hotel in Chembur, Ramteke decided to execute his plan.

“On April 5, when the mother-son duo was leaving the hotel carrying some documents of their property in Kolhapur, some of the accused approached them as clients and offered them a handsome price for their property. The accused then took the Kambles to a farmhouse in Panvel under the pretext of meeting a ‘property dealer’.

“At the farmhouse, the accused tried to force Vishal to sell the Kolhapur property and when he refused, they allegedly murdered him and disposed of his body on the Vadodara–Ahmedabad highway,” a source said.

The police, however, were yet to ascertain how exactly Vishal was killed. “Whether he was strangled to death or was given an overdose of a sedative, that is still to be investigated,” an officer said.

After killing Vishal, the accused allegedly drove Rohini to Ajmer in Rajasthan and later, lodged her in a bungalow in Aarey colony, Goregaon where she was kept captive for a few days before the police rescued her on May 2.

The accused had reportedly planned to keep her alive till the formalities of transferring the property in Ramteke’s name were not over. Five people, including Ramteke, have been arrested in the case so far.

Sources said that Ramteke allegedly promised other accused persons hefty amounts for helping him execute the plan. The police are trying to trace Vishal’s vehicle, which was used by the accused in the crime.