Santacruz murder case: Did caretaker with criminal record get all-clear from cops?

Murlidhar Purshottam Naik, the deceased; (righ) Krishna Periyar stole a gold rudraksha of Naik before allegedly murdering him

Murder accused Krishna Manbahadur Periyar, 25, had been arrested in 2013 for robbery by the Juhu police, and spent seven years in jail, but the cops haven't found any criminal records of him in the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) of Maharashtra police. The company that employed him, has claimed that they completed his police verification through a law agency they hired, and the Sakinaka police had verified his records.

The Santacruz police are now checking whether the Sakinaka police did do Periyar's verification as claimed by the company. Periyar was hired as a caretaker by the Health Care at Home India company which is in Sakinaka, on May 1. The company officials claimed that they completed the police verification with the Sakinaka police through a law firm they had hired, and after completing it, they gave the job to Periyar.

Krishna Periyar

Speaking to mid-day, an employee of the Health Care at Home India company said, "Before hiring anyone, we take their Aadhaar card and other relevant documents. We also get the police verification done through a law firm we have hired. Periyar was hired by us after completing his verification. We also informed the police about it."

‘Nothing on CCTNS'

The investigation officer of Santacruz police told mid-day, "Periyar was arrested in 2013 and he also spent 7 years in jail and in 2020 December he was released. When we checked his records in the CCTNS, we didn't find anything. In the court records application also, we searched his name but didn't find anything. The Maharashtra police uses CCTNS to find the accused's criminal records. We are checking how his verification was done by the Sakinaka police as per the company that employed him, or whether it was done at all." "We have also recorded the company officials' statements and sent them to the Sakinaka police to confirm how this third party agency got police verification done," another officer from Santacruz police station said.

Whose fault is it?

A Juhu police station officer told mid-day, "Periyar was arrested by Juhu police station in 2013 but his records are not found in CCTNS. It is difficult for the police to find the records of the accused if they are not visible on CCTNS. Periyar confessed that he was arrested, due to this we checked his records and found this was correct. The fault lies with the personnel who are supposed to update CCTNS."

Periyar was appointed as a caretaker on May 1 at the deceased Murlidhar Naik's residence and he earned a salary of R25,000 from the company. Periyar also received tips every day from Naik for his services. Naik wore a gold rudraksha weighing 20 grams and Periyar decided to steal it. Early on May 7 Periyar stuck tape on Naik's face multiple times and tied his hands and legs and stole the rudraksha. Later he fled to Gujarat and was caught by the Santacruz police from Ahmedabad railway station.

8 May
When Murlidhar Naik was found murdered