Mumbai: Missing backpack helps police unravel sinister murder plot

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A missing backpack at the location where the police found a man with head injuries led investigators to unravel a murder plot; the man later succumbed to his injuries. The police have arrested a delivery man for the murder of his friend.

The police had initially presumed it was an accident. However, when the police went to his residence to convey the news and also collect a statement from his family, the deceased's mother informed the police that he had left the house with his backpack. There was no backpack at the spot. According to police sources, when they reached the spot the next day to conduct the panchnama, the accused was present there and signed the document as a witness.

"Yogesh Kamble, 36, was a daily wager who lived in Damunagar with his mother, wife and child. Kamble's friend Ravindra Giri, 36, would visit him frequently," said a police officer. Giri worked as a delivery man and lived with his wife and children at Kranti Nagar, Kandivali.

CCTV footage from the spot where they found Kamble, revealed that he and Giri were heading towards the quarry. An officer from Samtanagar police station said, "We detained Giri for questioning."

During interrogation, Giri confessed to the crime. Giri and Kamble's wife had grown close over time. Fuelled by Kamble's violent outbursts towards his wife, Giri decided to intervene. Giri lured him to the quarry with alcohol. When Kamble was inebriated, Giri allegedly hit him on his head with a stone. Giri then fled with Kamble's backpack.

Senior police inspector Pravin Rane of Samta Nagar police station said, "Our team solved the case within 24 hours."