Three arrested for jeweller brothers' murder in Thane

The three arrested, all around 19-20 years of age, planned the double murder with an intention of robbery, Thane District Rural Superintendent of Police Anil Kumbhare told reporters here.u00a0

The three accused were detained two days back and arrested yesterday. On April 8, brothers Dinesh Narayan Soni (27) and Madan Narayan Soni (42) were allegedly strangled with plastic straps used for box packaging at their house.

Police said the main accused in the murder, Farhan alias Mallik Mumtaz Ahmad Shaikh (25), hid himself in a lodge. When the police tried to catch him earlier, he jumped out of the third floor window and fell over a 'tandoor' of a hotel and sustained minor injuries.

He is being treated at a hospital now, police said, adding that he would be arrested later on. Farhan worked as a spot boy in some film studios and used his girlfriend (one of the accused arrested in the case), who worked in a call centre, in the crimes, police said.

Their modus operandi was to send a girl to a jewellery shop on the pretext of making some purchases. Later, the girl would befriend the owners following which the male members of the gang would kill them.u00a0