Murder cracked after nine years

Vikas Shrivastav

Nine years after 70-year-old Laxmirani Roy was found murdered at her apartment in Chembur, the police have arrested her neighbour Chandan Sengupta, a call centre employee, for masterminding the crime.

Three days back, police had arrested the actual murderer, Kishore Nadankar, who spilled the beans on Sengupta.

On April 8, 1999 Roy was found murdered at her third floor apartment in Sea Breeze Society, Mahul, Chembur. Neighbours had called the police after they found the door of Roy's flat open. Her throat had been slit and jewellery worth Rs 1.53 lakh was missing. Roy lived there with her daughter, who had her office at Worli, and son-in-law, a merchant navy officer.

For nine years, the police tried to crack the murder case, but had no clue. Just last week, a police informer overheard Sengupta, a neighbour of Roy, discussing the murder at a beer bar. "Sengupta told his friends about the murder which took place nine years ago and took the name of one Kishore Nadankar," said inspector Shailesh Pasalwar of the Chembur police station.

The police then questioned Nadankar's parents, who live in a chawl next to the Sea Breeze Society. Acting on their information, they went to Kolad in Konkan and got hold of Nadankar, who spilled the beans about the case. Nadankar was then brought to the city and arrested.

Nadankar, 42, was a rickshaw driver in Mumbai before he became a hawker in Kolad. "He had taken loans worth Rs 1 lakh and was unable to repay it. He took to alcohol and started visiting Krishna Beer Bar located nearby," said Rajesh Kewale, another officer at Chembur police station.

The mastermind Chandan Sengupta (in yellow shirt) and Kishore Nadankar, who actually committted the murder, at the RCF police station, Chembur on Wednesday

Nadankar had met Sengupta at Krishna Beer Bar, where they became friends. "Sengupta lived in the same building as Roy and gave Nadankar the idea to rob her," said the officer. "He also told Nadankar that Roy used to be alone in the afternoons. Accordingly, Nadankar went to Roy's flat, slit her throat and ran away with the jewellery."

"Nadankar then called Sengupta to share the booty, but he declined. They decided to meet after Nadankar disposed of the jewellery. Sengupta also cautioned Nadankar about police visits to the building and advised him to stay away," said Kewale.

Nadankar then left for Goa with his wife and two children to escape police attention. He later went to Sindhudurg and started hawking goods. His business also took him to Kolad and Mangaon.

"He was nabbed from Kolad and after sustained interrogation, told us the entire story. We arrested Sengupta today (Wednesday)," said Pasalwar.

Interestingly, Sengupta has still not got his promised share of the booty. "For nine years, Sengupta kept quiet and didn't let anybody know about the murder," said Pasalwar.
mumbai news
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