27 June,2014 12:50 AM IST | | Shiva Devnath
Slapped for urinating next to a cozying couple, Utpam Gade smashed the man’s head in; he then came to Mumbai, visited Siddhivinayak and Juhu chowpatty, before heading to Vakola police station
Utpam Gade
In the most ludicrous fallout of marital discord, a Pune man - already seething from a household brawl - committed murder near a fort on the outskirts of the city, after he was further riled by a slap for urinating next to a couple cuddling in the bushes.
Utpam Gade
He then went to Mumbai, spent two days mooching around, and finally decided to go to Vakola police station yesterday, where he sipped on some cheap alcohol for nearly an hour, waiting for the cops to notice him so that he could surrender.
The Vakola police, on their part, were in a fix initially as the Pune police weren't even aware of the alleged murder until they were informed of it. At the time of going to press, the Vakola police were waiting for a team from Pune to come and take Gade's custody.
Pee-ved
Utpam Gade, a 38-year-old unemployed man from the city, told the police that he was having marital problems and, after bickering with his wife yet again on Tuesday, had gone to a fort near the city to cool off. After sitting there for hours, he went to some bushes to answer nature's call.
Little did he know, however, that a couple was cozying up close to his chosen bushes. The interrupted man spotted Gade urinating, came up to him and slapped him, then went and sat near his girlfriend again. Stinging from the slap, Gade picked up a rock and bashed the man's head in, killing him instantly. He said the girlfriend ran away at the sight of blood and he stashed the man's body in the bushes.
Mumbai calling
Gade rushed to the railway station and caught a train that was heading to Vishakapatnam and got off at Dadar on Tuesday night. For nearly 36 hours, Gade roamed around in Mumbai, eating street food and drinking cheap alcohol. He told the police that he went to the Siddhivinayak Temple and then spent most of Wednesday at Juhu Chowpatty.
He went to the Western Express Highway on Thursday morning. He bought a 50-rupees bottle of alcohol, took the skywalk to Santacruz (East), and asked someone where the nearest police station was. He then sat on a bench near Vakola police station for close to an hour, sipping the alcohol and waiting for a policeman to notice him. An official approached him at 11.30 am, and he confessed to his crime.
The police detained Gade and called up the Haveli police station in Pune, under whose jurisdiction the fort falls, to ask if a murder had been reported. "Gade told us that he had thrown the victim's body in the bushes before fleeing. The Haveli police did not know about the case and said the victim may have come there from some other area," said an official.
R Mule, senior police inspector of the Vakola police station, said they have detained Gade and recorded his statement. He said they will now hand Gade over to the Haveli police station, a team from which is on its way to take his custody to investigate the case.
