Thane rape and murder case: Accused committed over 50 robberies, say police

Narwade would spend the day as an autorickshaw driver, he would target couples on deserted stretches once it was dark, the police said. (For representational purpose)

The accused in the Titwala rape and murder case was an auto driver by the day and an alleged armed robber by night, police have claimed. While he has two cases registered against him, Sanjay Narwade committed more than 50 robberies, they said. On March 5, 28-year-old Ganesh Dinkar was shot dead by Narwade at a secluded spot off the Ambernath-Chinchpada road near Nalimbi village. Narwade then allegedly raped Dinkar’s girlfriend and fled with the keys of their bike and phones. On hearing the victim’s cries for help, the villagers alerted the police. Narwade was arrested after six days. “He used to come to the empty stretch on the Ambernath-Chinchpada road, as this was used by several couples. Since most couples were meeting secretly, he knew no one would complain against him,” said an officer from Thane rural police.

Narwade, originally from Jalna, was a trouble-maker in his hometown as well, the police said. “He allegedly left his house with some money he had stolen. With part of that amount, he procured a sophisticated gun from Aurangabad at Rs 15,000. With the rest, he got an autorickshaw. He never stayed at one address and preferred to live in rented rooms,” the officer said.

While Narwade would spend the day as an autorickshaw driver, he would target couples on deserted stretches once it was dark, the police said. “He used to threaten people with the gun and take their belongings, generally phones. We believe that he has fired at people twice. The first case, his target survived with minor injuries. But Narwade was never identified. He believed that the woman in this case, would be too distraught to identify him,” another officer said. Narwade was caught in Ulhasnagar after the rape victim identified his picture sent on WhatsApp. “He had sold off the deceased person’s phone. He was so sure that he wouldn’t be arrested, that he was living in the same rented room which the man, who bought the phone off him, had described,” the officer said.

The police are approaching more people to come forward to tell them if they had been robbed in a similar fashion. “We are interrogating him and checking if other police stations nearby have a similar case where he could be interrogated,” said a senior officer. Narwade has been remanded in police custody till March 19.