Solving Crime: How a drunk man’s ramblings helped Naigaon police solve murder case
The body of a 20-year-old autorickshaw driver was dumped along a highway in the Naigaon area on the outskirts of Mumbai in November last year. A man who allegedly witnessed the murder led the police to the suspects.
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According to the police, Mali was driving the autorickshaw of one of the accused and had rammed into a dumper, causing damage to it. (Representational Photo)On November 21, 2023, two men who stopped to relieve themselves by a highway in the Naigaon area on the outskirts of Mumbai spotted a decaying body and alerted the police. The skeletal remains made it difficult for the police to identify the deceased. An Accidental Death Report (ADR) was registered by the Naigaon police in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. However, the post-mortem report revealed that the deceased, a male between 25-30 years of age, had suffered an assault on his head, which was concluded to be the cause of his death.
With the ‘accidental death’ turning out to be murder, the Naigaon police and the Crime Branch set out to ascertain the man’s identity using his clothes and slippers. The police circulated the photos of these belongings to identify the victim.
The police then learnt that the family members of 20-year-old Lavesh Mali, an autorickshaw driver, had filed a missing person’s complaint after he did not return home. Once Mali’s identity was confirmed by his family, the police began their search for the perpetrator.
Mali used to frequent a few alcoholic joints in the area, the police learnt. Around the same time, the police were alerted by their informer network about a man, a regular at one of the bars. The man would get drunk and shout that he would get killed, before passing out. Officials found out that the man knew Mali and called him for questioning.
The man then claimed that he had witnessed Mali’s murder and was having nightmares that he would be killed by the same men. Based on his description of the men and other clues, the police arrested two men. They allegedly claimed that a minor boy related to one of them was also involved.
According to the police, Mali was driving the autorickshaw of one of the accused and had rammed into a dumper, causing damage to it. The accused claimed that Mali had refused to pay for the damages leading to an argument after a drinking session. The police claimed that the main accused had then struck Mali with a stone and they had dumped his body on the highway to get away with the murder.
The two men were booked under several charges, including murder, and are currently undergoing trial.
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