Corporator's killer was to be thrown out of Bhiwandi

Nearly 1,000 locals gather to demand justice for slain corporator

Bhiwandi corporator Manoj Mhatre was killed for nothing. His cousin brother Prashant Mhatre murdered him so he could become corporator instead. What he didn't know was that the Bhiwandi police was actually planning to drive him out of the district.

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Manoj Mhatre

The deceased corporator and his cousin had a long running rivalry, and Prashant had always coveted Manoj's position in society as corporator and leader of Congress in the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC). On the other hand, Prashant had been charged with serious offences such as attempt to murder and criminal intimidation.

DCP Manoj Patil (Bhiwandi) confirmed that they had planned to banish Prashant and had spent more than a month collecting evidence and witnesses. He was to be externed before the upcoming election in April 2017.

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Prashant and his parents are absconding and neither the Bhiwandi police nor the Crime Branch have managed to trace them yet. "We are using all our sources to trace the accused. Soon, we will arrest them. We are yet to take the statement of the family members of the deceased, as they are under trauma," said SD Jadhav, senior inspector, Narpoli police station.

"The Call Detail Records (CDR) of all the seven accused tracked their location near the murder spot before their mobile phones were switched off. We are taking the help of local informers, relatives and friends to trace the absconding accused," said another officer.

Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 local residents gathered to protest on the Mumbai-Nasik highway, demanding the arrest of the accused. The protest was held near Kalvar village, where Mhatre was based. Traffic was halted for more than an hour. A candle march was also carried out in the evening in Bhiwandi.