Mumbai: Eight months on, man who stabbed Borivli hotel staffer nabbed

Crime Branch Unit XI went through over 100 CCTV footages in an attempt to trace and finally arrest Harish Devadiga

After eight months of investigation involving hundreds of people and the study of more than 100 CCTV footages, tower locations and the drum data of mobile phones obtained from the crime spot, the Mumbai Crime Branch Unit XI finally arrested an absconding accused, who had stabbed a staffer of Hotel Devine at Borivli in February.

What happened

According to police sources, two men posing as rickshaw drivers had entered the hotel and claimed they had to collect money from a customer. They were taken by a staffer to one of two rooms where one of them identified the customer, and returned. However, after some time, an unidentified person entered the hotel and went towards the room. The on-duty staff Naushad Buraniya and his brother Salim followed him till he reached room number 215 where he brought a man out at gunpoint and tried to drag him along. When Naushad tried to intervene, the accused pointed the pistol at his chest. Salim then caught the accused tightly from behind. Since the accuser's grip was tight Naushad bit his hand and made him drop the pistol. The accused then attacked Salim on his hand and neck with a knife and fled. Salim was later treated for his injuries.

The Borivli police and Crime Branch officials from unit XI had launched a manhunt for the accused. They arrested him on Wednesday in Navi Mumbai. "The accused has been identified as Harish Tomera Devadiga, 37, against whom many serious offenses like robbery, murder, and attempt to murder have been registered in various police stations of Eastern Mumbai," said an official from the Crime Branch.

Had watched merchants

During interrogation, it was found that the accused had gone to rob three cloth merchants of Gujarat, who were staying in the hotel. These merchants used to come to Mumbai, buy goods and send them to Gujarat, then spend the night in Mumbai with the intention of having fun. They had gone to a dance bar in Chembur, where they were spending a lot of money on the dancing girls while drinking alcohol. The police said the accused was sitting nearby and watching them. He realised they had more money and when they left, he followed them.

"Under the supervision of Senior Inspector Vinayak Chavan, API Bharat Ghone and his team including Constables Ajay Kadam, Jayesh Keni, and Sachin Khatate traced the accused and handed him to the Borivli police for further investigation," said an officer from the Crime Branch.

Feb 24
When the crime took place